Leo Minor Constellation: The Ultimate Guide

In ancient China, astronomers drew four stars near the constellation Leo. These four stars were Beta, 30, 37, and 46 Leonis Minoris.

The four stars formed the Neiping, which in Chinese means "Court of Judge or Mediator." These stars combined with the stars of the constellation Leo that had on one side to form a tremendous celestial dragon.

The first to present Leo Minor's constellation was Johannes Hevelius, a Polish astronomer. He, in 1687, placed in his stellar atlas ten new constellations, including Leo Minor.

He decided to call Leo Minor because he noticed that he bore some resemblance to Leo's constellation, only much fainter and more minor.

After the nineteenth century, the official boundaries of the constellation were not modified until 1930 when the Belgian astronomer Eugène Delporteen defined the edges of the constellation by a 16-sided polygon occupying an area of 232.0 square degrees.

Leo Minor resides in the second quadrant of the Northern Hemisphere (NQ2), at latitudes between 45° S and 90° N, which means we can see the constellation in the night sky in every country in the world except Antarctica.

Leo Minor is visible in countries like the USA, Germany, Russia, England, China, and Japan in the northern hemisphere.

Leo minor is visible in Brazil, Argentina, Australia, and New Zealand; the only region not visible is Antarctica.

Leo Minor is a constellation close to the north pole, so it is visible to the northern hemisphere countries throughout the year.

For the southern hemisphere countries, a part of the constellation ceases to be visible in autumn. The best month to see the constellation of Leo Minor is in April.

To locate the constellation Leo Minor, you must look north of the celestial vault.

Leo Minor is a medium constellation but very faint; it is complicated to see in skies with a lot of light pollution.

The best way to locate it is by using the constellation Leo and Ursa Major as a reference, drawing an imaginary straight line from Leo to the Ursa Major. Leo Minor is in the middle of the two.

The bordering constellations of Leo Minor are Cancer, Leo, Lynx, and Ursa Major.

In turn, Leo Minor is part of the family of Ursa Major; these include Boötes, Camelopardalis, Canes Venatici, Coma Berenices, Corona Borealis, Draco, Lynx, Ursa Major, and Ursa Minor.

Leo Minor officially has 37 stars, of which 4 form the central figure of the constellation; these are Notes, Beta of Lion the Younger, 21 Lion of the Minor, and 10.

46 Leonis minoris is the brightest star in the constellation Leo Minor; it is a giant red with an apparent magnitude of 3.83; it is at a distance of 95 light-years from the Earth.

It is the only star in the constellation Leo Minor classified with a letter. It is a binary star located 154 years of the solar system. It is the second brightest star of Leo Minor with a magnitude of 4.2.

Located at 59 light-years, HD 87883 is an orange dwarf of spectral type K0V, with an apparent magnitude of 7.57 that is not visible to the naked eye. This star is known to have an exoplanet around it.

Leo Minor is a small constellation with very few deep sky bodies; most are still in the study phase and dim.

Only it is possible to study these objects with the most powerful telescopes in the world.

The only two bodies of deep-sky in Leo Minor that the International Astronomical Union officially recognizes are:

• NGC 3432: knitting needle galaxy has a magnitude of 11.7 and is located 42 million light-years from Earth.
• NGC 3003: Barred spiral galaxy SBbc with a magnitude of 12.3 and an angular size of 5.8 arc minutes.
• NGC 3344: Dwarf spiral galaxy located 25 million light-years from Earth with an apparent magnitude of 10.45.
• NGC 3504: A barred spiral star of apparent magnitude 11.67.
• NGC 3486: Spiral galaxy that looks almost head-on towards Earth of magnitude 11.05.
• NGC 2859: Lenticular galaxy of type SB0.
• Arp 107: A pair of merging galaxies located 450 million light-years from Earth.
• IC 2497: A spiral galaxy 650 million light-years from Earth is about the same size as the Milky Way.

Leo Minor's constellation has associated a meteor shower called "Leonis Minorid."

The Leonis Minorid meteor shower occurs between October 19 and 27, and the peak of maximum observation occurs on October 23.

• Due to a cataloging error by the English astronomer Francis Baily, Leo Minor is the only constellation without an alpha star designation.

Leo Minor is a constellation of the northern celestial hemisphere. The Polish astronomer Johannes Hevelius was the one who related it to the constellation of Leo.

Although it is in the Northern Hemisphere, Leo Minor sees from every country in the world, the only exception being Antarctica.

The best month to see the constellation Leo Minor is April.

Leo Minor's brightest star is 46 Leonis minoris with a magnitude of 3.83.

The best way to locate Leo Minor's constellation is by drawing an imaginary straight line from Leo to the Ursa Major. Leo Minor is suitable in the middle of the two.

Leo Minor's most notable deep-sky body is NGC 3432 (knitting needle galaxy).

The strongest meteor shower in Leo Minor is the Leonis Minorid.

1. https://www.constellation-guide.com/constellation-list/leo-minor-constellation/
2. http://www.seasky.org/constellations/constellation-leo-minor.html
3. https://www.universeguide.com/constellation/leominor
4. https://theskylive.com/sky/constellations/leo_minor-constellation