Stars · Star in Leo
Star
Regulus
“The little king” — the lion’s heart. It lies almost exactly on the Sun’s path, so the Moon and planets often pass it.
- Constellation
- Leo
- Designation
- α Leonis
- Apparent magnitude
- 1.36 · 23rd brightest star in the night sky
- Spectral class
- B7V
- Distance
- 79.3 light-years
- Position (J2000)
- RA 10h 08m · Dec +11° 58′
A blue-white main-sequence star, around 16,000 K, like Rigel and Spica. About 110× brighter than the faintest star the eye can see. The light you are seeing left in 1947.
History
The Babylonians called it Sharru, the king; Copernicus gave it its Latin diminutive. It was one of the four “royal stars” of Persian lore.
Science
It spins so fast it would fly apart at not much higher speed, and its equator is a third wider than its poles.