The brightest star in. The Persians knew the constellation as Shir or Ser, Babylonians called it UR.GU.LA (the great lion), Syrians knew it as Aryo, and the Turks as Artan. The distances between B and C ranged from 4.0 to 2.5 arc seconds between 1867 and 1943. The traditional name Regulus is Latin for ' prince ' or ' little king .'. Mass transfer from the white dwarf progenitor onto Regulus accounts for any discrepancies between the stars age and its mass, temperature, and luminosity. Save. According to Bantu Mythology mankind is not indigenous to planet Earth. In Persian astronomy, the sky was divided into four districts and each district was guarded by one of the four bright stars. In medieval astrology, Regulus was one of the 15 Behenian fixed stars, believed to hold special astrological power. It has an apparent magnitude of 10.1 and is about 31 million light years distant. The two components complete an orbit every 40.11 days. It was discovered by William Herschel in 1784. The best time of the year to observe the stars and deep sky objects of Leo is during the month of April, when the constellation is high above the horizon in the evening. (The Persians called it first Venant and then Miyan (the center). The Sickle looks like a backward question mark and consists of the stars that outline the mane of the celestial Lion. In fact, if Regulus rotated just a bit faster, it would fly apart! Each of the 15 stars was associated with a planet, a plant, and a gemstone, and the latter two were used in rituals to bring out the stars influence. It has the stellar classification A2 V and a mass 2.5 times that of the Sun. Aldebaran marked the vernal equinox and Antares marked the autumnal equinox, while Regulus marked the Summer Solstice and Fomalhaut the Winter Solstice. Larry Sessions has written many favorite posts in EarthSky's Tonight area. As a result, the star is emitting polarized light. Litchfield Park | Visit Arizona The two stars have an orbital period of 500 years. The Egyptians also recognized the Leo constellation and it's champion star, Regulus. It will do so again on October 1, 2044. Heres how it works. The galaxy is notable for having a long tidal tail spanning about 300,000 light years, and a broad, obscuring dust band along the outer edge of its spiral arms. Erigone extinguished the stars light for 14 seconds, but the occultation was not observed due to unfavourable weather conditions. The Arabic phrase is sometimes approximated as Kabelaced. NGC 3593 is a spiral galaxy in Leo. Zosma, Delta Leonis, is another rapid rotator in Leo, with a projected rotational velocity of 180 km/s. Source: wigwamgolf. She was contributing writer for Space.com (opens in new tab) for 10 years before joining full-time, freelancing since 2012. Regulus has a mass 3.8 times that of the Sun and a radius 4.35 times solar. Both the constellation and its brightest star were well-known in most ancient cultures. This article is about the star. Regulus is the faintest of the 22 first-magnitude stars. Under modern classifications, Regulus is considered a blue-white "B" star that lies on the main sequence of stellar evolution. In about 600 million years, it will become a red giant. The Babylonians also recorded details of Regulus, the bright star within Leo, as The Great Lion constellation. It has an apparent magnitude of 1.35 and lies at a distance of 79.3 light years, or 24.3 parsecs, from Earth. The rotation of Regulus speeds at 700,000 mph (1.1 million kph) at its equator. The autumnal equinox, the point where the Sun crosses the ecliptic in early autumn, is located halfway between Regulus and Spica, the brightest star in Leo. Regulus B has a radius of 0.83 solar radii and Regulus C, 0.37 solar radii. They are main sequence stars belonging to the spectral classes K1-2 V and M5 V, making Regulus B an orange dwarf and Regulus C a red dwarf. Iota Leonis is a spectroscopic binary star with the stellar classification F3 V. It has a visual magnitude of 4.00 and is approximately 79 light years distant from the Sun. Her latest book, "Why Am I Taller? It was discovered by Pierre Mchain on March 20, 1781 and then included in Messiers catalogue a few days later. The next brightest star to the ecliptic is Wasat, Delta Geminorum, with a visual magnitude of 3.53. Regulus, along with five slightly dimmer stars (Zeta Leonis, Mu Leonis, Gamma Leonis, Epsilon Leonis, and Eta Leonis) have collectively been called 'the Sickle', which is an asterism that marks the head of Leo. The Egyptians considered Leo the House of the Sun, as when they first charted the stars, Leo was rising with the sun at the solstice, so Leo and Sirius were associated with the heat of summer. Fierce lion-headed deities, like Sekhmet whose breath formed the desert, and Tefnut who fled to the desert of Nubia in her rage, and the war-god Maahes, were associated both with scorching heat and protection of the pharaoh. Merak and Dubhe, the outer stars of the Big Dippers bowl, also point in the general direction of the constellation Leo. The G7 class star has a visual magnitude of 3.51, is 50 times brighter than the Sun, and has 10 times the solar diameter. The planet Venus passes the star around this time every eight years. The star was first discovered in 1969 by the American astrophysicist Eric Brecklin and his team of astronomers. Another bright star, Denebola (Beta Leonis) marks the tip of the lions tail. It has a visual magnitude of 9.7 and is approximately 30.6 million light years distant from the Sun. How are Hubble Space Telescope images made? NGC 3626 is a medium-tightness spiral galaxy in Leo. On March 20, 2014, the star was occulted by 163 Erigone, a relatively large asteroid first discovered in April 1876. Leo 1 is a dwarf galaxy, and a member of our local group. The galaxy has a visual magnitude of 8.9 and is about 36 million light years distant. Leo constellation map by IAU and Sky&Telescope magazine. Regulus was seen as the main star because it was in the constellation of Leo, giving it the power of the lion, signifying the strength of kings with large implications. Regulus A is the dominant star, with a binary companion 177" distant that is thought to be physically related. It was discovered by the German astronomer Albert Marth on April 5, 1864. Another mystery is the source of its extremely rapid spin and strange motion. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. Fixed Star Regulus - Astrology King