Leo Minor

Leo Minor is a small and faint constellation in the northern celestial hemisphere. Its name is Latin for "the smaller lion", in contrast to Leo, the larger lion. It lies between the larger and more recognizable Ursa Major to the north and Leo to the south. Leo Minor was not regarded as a separate constellation by classical astronomers; it was designated by Johannes Hevelius in 1687. There are 37 stars brighter than apparent magnitude 6.5 in the constellation; three are brighter than magnitude 4.5. 46 Leonis Minoris, an orange giant of magnitude 3.8, is located some 95 light-years from Earth. At magnitude 4.4, Beta Leonis Minoris is the second brightest star and the only one in the constellation with a Bayer designation. It is a binary star, the brighter component of which is an orange giant and the fainter a yellow-white main sequence star. The third brightest star is 21 Leonis Minoris, a rapidly rotating white main-sequence star of average magnitude 4.5. The constellation also includes two stars with planetary systems, two pairs of interacting galaxies, and the unique deep-sky object Hanny's Voorwerp. ... Leo Minor ... is a small constellation bordered by Ursa Major to the north, Lynx to the west, Leo to the south, and touching the corner of Cancer to the southwest. The three-letter abbreviation for the constellation, as adopted by the International Astronomical Union in 1922, is 'LMi'. ... There are only three stars in the constellation brighter than magnitude 4.5, and 37 stars with a magnitude brighter than 6.5. Leo Minor does not have a star designated Alpha because Baily erred and allocated a Greek letter to only one star, Beta. ... At magnitude 3.8, the brightest star in Leo Minor is an orange giant of spectral class K0III named 46 Leonis Minoris or Praecipua... Beta Leonis Minoris is a binary star system. The primary is a giant star of spectral class G8 and apparent magnitude of 4.4. ... Of average apparent magnitude 4.5 and spectral type A7V, it is a Delta Scuti variable. ... Also known as SU and SV Leonis Minoris, 10 and 11 Leonis Minoris are yellow giants of spectral type G8III, with average magnitudes 4.54 and 5.34 respectively. ... Deep-sky objects. In terms of deep-sky objects, Leo Minor contains many galaxies viewable in amateur telescopes. Located 3 degrees southeast of 38 Leonis Minoris, NGC 3432 is seen nearly edge on. Known as the knitting needle galaxy, it is of apparent magnitude 11.7 and measures 6.8 by 1.4 arcminutes. ... NGC 3003, a SBbc barred spiral galaxy with an apparent magnitude of 12.3 and an angular size of 5.8 arcminutes, is seen almost edge-on. NGC 3344, 25 million light years distant, is face-on towards Earth. Measuring 7.1 by 6.5 arcminutes in size, it has an apparent magnitude of 10.45. NGC 3504 is a starburst barred spiral galaxy of apparent magnitude 11.67 and measuring 2.1 by 2.7 arcminutes. ... It and the spiral galaxy NGC 3486 are also almost face-on towards Earth; the latter is of magnitude 11.05 and measures 7.1 by 5.2 arcminutes. NGC 2859 is an SB0-type lenticular galaxy. At least two pairs of interacting galaxies have been observed. Arp 107 is a pair of galaxies in the process of merging, located 450 million light years away. NGC 3395 and NGC 3396 are a spiral and irregular barred spiral galaxy respectively that are interacting, located 1.33 degrees southwest of 46 Leonis Minoris. ... Meteor showers. ... the Leonis Minorids peak between October 18 and October 29. The shower's parent body is the long period comet C/1739 K1 (Zanotti). It is a minor shower, and can only be seen from the Northern Hemisphere. [Leo Minor. Wikipedia]