26Leo, The Lion
NAME: Leo (LEE-oh)
SEASON: Winter
CULMINATION: midnight, 1 March
ABBREVIATION: Leo
GENITIVE: Leonis (LEE-own-is)
NEIGHBORS: Cnc, Com, Crt, Hya, LMi, Lyn, Sex, UMa, Vir
BINOCULAR OBJECTS: NGC 3351 (M 95), NGC 3368 (M 96), NGC 3379 (M 105), NGC 3623 (M 65), NGC 3627 (M 66)
URBAN OBJECTS: 41-gamma (STF 1424)
Leo is a large, bright, prominent equatorial constellation that ranks 12th in size among the 88 constellations. Leo covers 947 square degrees of the celestial sphere, or about 2.3%.
Greek mythology identifies Leo as representing the Nemean Lion that Herakles killed during one of his Twelve Labors. The easily recognized asterism that forms the Sickle of Leo is anchored by the bright stars Regulus and Algieba and represents the ...
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