Constellations · 3 of 5
Leo & the Spring Sky
Which constellation actually looks like the animal it is named for?
The one constellation that looks like its animal — and the signpost for everything else in the spring sky.
You’ll be able to find Leo by its Sickle, and use it as the signpost to the spring sky.
Before this: The Big Dipper & Friends (8 min)
Where and which night
Working out when this is best placed from where you are…
Where
Kept for this guide only, until you change it here — your map settings, and every other guide, stay as they are.
Print, play outside or present
Scan with a phone's camera, or open
Sources
- HYG stellar database v4.2 — star positions, magnitudes and every separation quoted here
- McAlister et al., ApJ 628, 439 (2005) — CHARA interferometry: Regulus is rotating at 86% of break-up
- Jeffers et al., A&A 653, A39 (2021) — Regulus B/C and the white dwarf companion
- Apollodorus, Library 2.5.1–2 — the Nemean lion, and the crab Hera sent against Heracles at the Hydra
- IMO Meteor Shower Calendar — Leonid radiant, rate and the 33-year Tempel–Tuttle cycle
With a keyboard, focus the sky, aim it with the up and down arrow keys, and press Enter to drop the pin at the centre of the view; or press Show me.