Regulus, the brightest star in the constellation Leo, the lion, is a harbinger of spring in the Northern Hemisphere. Elizabeth first got interested in space after watching the movie Apollo 13 in 1996, and still wants to be an astronaut someday. She was contributing writer for Space.com (opens in new tab) for 10 years before joining full-time, freelancing since 2012. Both phrases mean Lions Heart. Toucan). It crept higher in the sky with each passing day in March and April, as winter favorites like Orion descended westward. The Regulus BC pair can be observed in smaller instruments. Regulus isn't a single star, but rather a quadruple star system composed out of two stars organized into two pairs. 2.98), Chertan (Theta Leo, mag. Regulus ranks 21st in the list of brightest stars in our sky. Now let's take a look at some of the best things to do in Litchfield Park, Arizona. This fast rotation causes Regulus A to bulge at its equator, so it appears oblate, or egg-shaped. It has the stellar classification A2 V and a mass 2.5 times that of the Sun. Every month or so one of the constellations in the belt hides directly behind the Sun opposite to Earth. The Sickle can be found using the bright stars of the Big Dipper, the most recognizable part of the constellation Ursa Major. This name was used by the Greeks, Romans and Arabs. Major disasters, breakthroughs, and historical phenomenons were seen as caused by the stars and their alignment in the sky during the time in which the event occurred. Regulus completes a rotation in only 15.9 hours and its equatorial rotational velocity is 96.5 percent of its breakup velocity. Albert George Wilson found it on photographic plates taken as part of the National Geographic Society-Palomar Observatory Sky Survey in 1950. Regulus A is a spectroscopic binary star composed of a blue-white main sequence star belonging to the spectral class B7 V, and a companion star which cannot be resolved, but is believed to be a white dwarf. Regulus, also known as Alpha Leonis, is the brightest star in the constellation Leo and the 21st brightest star in the night sky. They eventually expel their outer envelopes to form planetary nebulae and become white dwarfs within a few million years. 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. The proper names of stars that have been officially approved by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) are Adhafera, Algieba, Alterf, Chertan, Denebola, Dingolay, Formosa, Moriah, Rasalas, Regulus, Sagarmatha, Subra, and Zosma. Until the end of his life, in 2022, Don continued his visual comet hunting and Messier Marathons from Arizona, where he lived with his wife Michele. Regulus is only slightly fainter than Deneb in the constellation Cygnus and Mimosa in Crux, and it just outshines Adhara in Canis Major, Castor in Gemini, and Shaula in Scorpius. Unseen by the naked eye are two very faint companions to the much larger bright star. Indeed, the lowest mass white dwarfs are usually found in binary systems where they lost a significant fraction of their mass.". It has an apparent magnitude of 10.25 and is approximately 35 million light years distant. He's a longtime member of NASA's Solar System Ambassadors program. The brighter giant is 180 times more luminous than the Sun and has an apparent magnitude of 2.28. Regulus A is 3.8 times the mass of our sun, about three times as wide, and almost 288 times as bright. 166 Rhodope, an asteroid about 54.6 km in size, occulted the star on October 19, 2005. 2.08), Denebola (Beta Leo, mag. Its traditional name (Regulus) means "the little king". Later he received a 6-inch (15 cm) Criterion Dynascope and found all the Messier Objects in one year (1969-70). Also, Regulus Black is the name of a character in the "Harry Potter" series by J.K. Rowling. Regulus is located about 79 light-years from Earth. 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. Regulus B is visible in binoculars, while Regulus C can only be resolved in a larger telescope. Find movie showtimes and movie theaters near 85340 or Litchfield Park, AZ. Your email address will only be used for EarthSky content. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. Gamma Leonis is a double star in Leo. The Washington Double Star Catalog", Bright Star Regulus near the Leo I Dwarf Galaxy, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Regulus&oldid=1149452547, Articles containing Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles with unsourced statements from September 2022, Articles with unsourced statements from August 2018, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 12 April 2023, at 10:00. Regulus is a bright star seen in the constellation Leo. 5 star rating. Denebola is the second brightest star in Leo and the 61st brightest star in the sky. Also, with a rotation period of 15.9 hours, Regulus is a lot faster than the Sun. In 1978, Don was one of the independent inventors of the Messier Marathon, an attempt to find and view all 110 galaxies, clusters, and nebulae in one night. Its traditional name, Al Minliar, comes from the Arabic Minkhir al-Asad, which means the muzzle of the lion. The star has the stellar classification K2III. The fourth star in the system has never been directly resolved via imaging, but its presence is revealed by spectroscopic analysis of Regulus A. Astronomers think it may be a closely orbiting white dwarf star. It can be seen in the night sky throughout the year except for a month on either side of August 22, when the Sun comes too close to the star. Regulus has a mass 3.8 times that of the Sun and a radius 4.35 times solar. Regulus lies around 79.3 light years, or 24.3 parsecs, from Earth in the constellation of Leo. 61 reviews. Under modern classifications, Regulus is considered a blue-white "B" star that lies on the main sequence of stellar evolution. Regulus A has an average temperature of around 12.460 Kelvin. 2. Regulus, designated as Alpha Leonis, is the brightest star in Leo, and the 21 st brightest star in the night sky, having an apparent magnitude of 1.40. It has a visual magnitude of 2.98 and is the fifth brightest star in the constellation Leo. Variations in the spin of the star mean there is probably a white dwarf, or dead star, lurking in the vicinity of Regulus, the astronomers argued in 2008. The name Denebola comes from the Arabic anab al-asad, which means the lions tail.. The brightest star in Leo is Regulus, Alpha Leonis, with an apparent magnitude of 1.35. The star is suspected to be a member of the Ursa Major Moving Group, a group of stars that includes most of the brightest stars in Ursa Major that share a common origin and motion through space. Zeta Leonis is a giant star belonging to the spectral class F0 III. The stars traditional naames, Ras Elased (Australis), Asad Australis and Algenubi, are derived from the Arabic phrase rs al-asad al-janb, which means the southern star of the lions head., Epsilon Leonis is 288 times more luminous than the Sun, four times as massive, and it has 21 times the solar radius. It is now so entered in the IAU Catalog of Star Names. A line from Megrez through Phecda, the inner stars of the Big Dippers bowl, leads to the Sickle. It has an apparent magnitude of 4.044 and is approximately 210 light years distant. Leo is one of the 15 equatorial constellations. The cloak both protected Heracles and made him appear even more fearsome. The location of Regulus (Alpha Leonis), image: Stellarium. Its traditional name, Adhafera, comes from the Arabic al-afrah, which means the curl or the braid.. It is easy to observe in a small telescope under good conditions and appears as a bright double star with orange red and greenish yellow components. There are two meteor showers associated with the constellation. Charles Messier discovered it in 1780. With a combined apparent magnitude of 1.40, it is the brightest star in Leo and the 21st brightest star in the sky. 1. [2] The stars were believed to hold both good and evil power and the Persians looked upon them for guidance in scientific calculations of the sky, such as the calendar and lunar/solar cycles, and for predictions. The galaxy resembles a giant maelstrom of glowing gas, rippled with dark dust that swirls inwards towards the nucleus. Situated 1/3 degree north of Regulus is the galaxy Leo 1 you can see it as a faint patch of light in the photo below. They are located 100 astronomical units away from each other and have an orbital period of 2,000 years. National Geographic Society-Palomar Observatory Sky Survey. Rho Leonis is a runaway star and has a peculiar velocity of 30 km/s at the minimum relative to the nearby stars. The dwarfs are about 95 AUs apart, more than three times the average distance between Neptune and the sun. "A companion may be a low mass white dwarf or main sequence star," a preprint version of the research paper read. Regulus Star Facts & Features About The Little King. Its symbol is . The companion is believed to be a white dwarf. Leo's brightest star, Regulus, was often called the "Red Flame" and was thought to contribute to the heat of summer. Messier 65, image: Adam Block/Mount Lemmon SkyCenter/University of Arizona (CC BY-SA 4.0). The star Regulus is known by many different names in different cultures. It exhibits an excess emission of infrared, which indicates the presence of a circumstellar disk of dust. Icarus was discovered in 2018 by a team of astronomers who were studying the multiply lensed supernova SN Refsdal with the Hubble Space Telescope. Regulus, Alpha Leonis, is the brightest star in Leo and the 22nd brightest star in the sky. [1] The Persians believed that the sky was divided into four districts with each district being guarded by one of the four Royal Stars. In late February, Regulus is visible throughout the night. Regulus is the only 1st magnitude star to sit almost squarely on the ecliptic, which marks the path of the sun, moon and planets across our sky. For example, in mid-July 2023, both Venus and Mars will visit Regulus in the evening sky. Play Some Golf at the Wigwam Resort. Accessed on May 1, 2023. https://theplanets.org/stars/regulus-star/. While watching the sky, the dominant star would appear in its season, each having a time of the year when most noticeable. This pattern, known as the Sickle, makes up the head and forequarters of Leo the Lion. M96 is the brightest galaxy in the M96 Group. Regulus is the dot of the question mark. Because of its proximity to Earth, the star is often mentioned in works of fiction. Rgulus is Latin for 'prince' or 'little king';[36] its Greek equivalent (Latinised) is Basiliscus. Regulus B and Regulus C take about 600 years to complete an orbit around a common centre of mass. In Indian astronomy, Regulus corresponds to the Nakshatra Magha ("the bountiful"). Every eight years, Venus passes near the star around that time. Regulus B, and its companion star, Regulus C are dimmer main sequence stars that are bound together by gravity. The companion star has an apparent magnitude of 4.8. Together with the bright Spica in Virgo and Arcturus in Botes, Regulus forms the Spring Triangle, another prominent asterism appearing in the evening sky from March to May. 5 stars. Experience the game! It has a mass of 3.8 solar masses and is an extremely fast spinner, with a rotational velocity of 347 km/s. NGC 3384 belongs to the M96 Group (Leo I Group) of galaxies. [4] The galaxys disk appears slightly warped, which, along with some recent starburst activity, suggests that the galaxy is interacting with another object. 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. [4] The sun was then surrounded by four bright stars at the beginning of every season. [3], By 700 BCE the Assyrians had essentially mapped the ecliptic cycle because of the four stars and were in result able to map the constellations, distinguishing them from the planets and the fixed stars.[4]. In ancient Greece, the star was known as Basiliskos (little king), while in Rome it was known as Basilica Stella. Regulus A is the dominant star, with a binary companion 177" distant that is thought to be physically related. Leonis (Latinized to Alpha Leonis) is the star system's Bayer designation. The components in the system are too close together to be able to resolve through a telescope. NY 10036. The black hole at the centre of the galaxy is believed to have a mass of 9.7 billion solar masses. Copernicus called it the Little King, after the Greek Basiliokos. The Leonids usually peak on November 17-18 every year and have a radiant near the bright star Gamma Leonis. Look towards Regulus around that date and youll see the sun. The best time of year to observe Regulus from the northern sky is in the late winter and early spring. The main star in Leo, Regulus, was associated with kings. He ultimately discovered a total of 12 comets, which bear his name. In ancient Babylon, Regulus was known as Sharru, the King. It was listed as Lugal (king) in the MUL.APIN, the Babylonian compendium of astronomy and astrology compiled around 1000 BCE. Elizabeth holds a Ph.D. and M.Sc. The main star Regulus A is large and blue with a spectral type of B8 IVn. It formally applies only to the component Alpha Leonis A, but is informally used for the whole system. [27] The next will occur on October 1, 2044, also by Venus. There is a great deal of mythology associated with Leo, perhaps the most common tale being that Leo was the Nemean Lion of the Hercules story. The galaxy was discovered by William Herschel in 1784. The Sun joins Regulus on August 22. The main components are designated as Alpha Leonis (Regulus) A, B, and C. Regulus A is a spectroscopic binary system consisting of a blue-white main sequence star and a dim companion that has not yet been seen directly. The Chinese knew Regulus as the Fourteenth Star of Xuanyuan, the Yellow Emperor (). NGC 3593 is a spiral galaxy in Leo. In Greek mythology, The Greeks associated Constellation Leo with the Nemean Lion. In Indian astronomy, the stars name was Magh, the Mighty, after a Hindu lunar mansion that consisted of all the stars of the Sickle of Leo. The staff is so caring and amazing. Regulus C has an estimated surface temperature of 3,242 K. The Regulus BC pair is separated by 177 seconds of arc, or about 5,000 astronomical units, from Regulus A and can be seen in small telescopes. The star is suspected to be a part of a binary system. Along with the brighter Vega, Altair, and Achernar, Regulus is one of the brightest and best-known examples of gravity darkening. Regulus B and Regulus C share a common proper motion. If the star were spinning 10 percent faster, it would fly apart as its gravity would not be strong enough to hold it together. Messier 96 is in fact the brightest member of the group and as leader of the pride also gives Leo I its alternative name of the M 96 group. In Persian astronomy, the sky was divided into four districts and each district was guarded by one of the four bright stars. In other words, Kepler's third law, which holds exactly only for two point-like masses, would no longer be valid for the Regulus system. The WGSN's first bulletin of July 2016[22] included a table of the first two batches of names approved by the WGSN; which included Regulus for this star. . They added, however, that they couldn't see anything in the system that would cause it to move faster. Some Peruvians also knew these stars as the Mountain Lion, whereas in China it was sometimes seen as a horse, and at other times as part of a dragon. In the MUL.APIN, a catalogue of stars and constellations in Babylon, Regulus was listed as LUGAL. [citation needed] In Chinese it is known as , the Fourteenth Star of Xuanyuan, the Yellow Emperor. 2.113), Zosma (Delta Leo, mag. Leo Triplet, image: Wikimedia Commons/Marekmazuch (CC BY-SA 4.0). 7 In astrology, the Sun is considered to be in Leo from July 23 to August 22 As mentioned in fact #3, Leo is part of the Zodiac belt. Regulus B is much dimmer, having only 0.50 solar luminosities, and an average temperature of around 4.885 Kelvin. "We don't have any idea why it's really doing that," McAlister said. The equatorial diameter of Regulus is 32 percent larger than its polar diameter. It is a bluish star, and it can be seen all around the globe. In medieval astrology, Regulus was one of the 15 Behenian fixed stars, believed to hold special astrological power. Before the discovery of the white dwarf, Regulus was believed to be a much younger star, with an estimated age between 50 and 100 million years. The royal stars are mentioned in the Bundahishn, a collection of Zoroastrian cosmogony and cosmology. Regulus, Denebola, the Leo Triplet and the Leo I Group, image: Wikisky. Kappa Leonis is a binary star with an apparent magnitude of 4.46, approximately 210 light years distant from the solar system. Hubble telescope eyes galactic site of distant star explosion (video), Europe's JUICE Jupiter probe has an antenna glitch in deep space, Your monthly guide to stargazing & space science, Subscribe for just 1 per issue with our Spring Savings, Issues delivered straight to your door or device, Right ascension: 10 hours 8 minutes 22.3 seconds, Declination: +11 degrees 58 minutes 2 seconds. This means that it completes a rotation every 15.9 hours and, as a result, its shape has been distorted into an oblate spheroid, with the equatorial diameter 32 percent larger than the polar diameter. "There's nothing that we know of that can speed this star up," said Georgia State University astronomer Hal McAlister, who led the study of the star at the university's Center for High Angular Resolution (CHARA), in an interview at the time. It will do so again on October 1, 2044. The name Regulus was officially approved by the International Astronomical Unions (IAU) Working Group on Star Names (WGSN) on June 30, 2016. [18], The primary of Regulus A has about 3.8 times the Sun's mass. Native Americans have two general Ursa Major myths. Regulus, in a horoscope or predictive chart, signifies good fortune, pride, royalty, and success. Other stars that belong to this association are Alpha Pictoris in the constellation Pictor, Beta Canis Minoris in the constellation Canis Minor, and the stars in the open cluster IC 2391, also known as the Omicron Velorum Cluster, located in the constellation Vela. The star is also known by its Latin name Cor Leonis and the Arabic Qalb al-Asad (Kalb al Asad, Kabeleced). [citation needed], Regulus is a multiple star system consisting of at least four stars. Erigone extinguished the stars light for 14 seconds, but the occultation was not observed due to unfavourable weather conditions. It was discovered by Pierre Mchain on March 20, 1781 and then included in Messiers catalogue a few days later. Elizabeth's reporting includes multiple exclusives with the White House and Office of the Vice-President of the United States, an exclusive conversation with aspiring space tourist (and NSYNC bassist) Lance Bass, speaking several times with the International Space Station, witnessing five human spaceflight launches on two continents, working inside a spacesuit, and participating in a simulated Mars mission. Transformers movies ranked, worst to best, Jupiter missions: Past, present and future, The best sci-fi movies and TV shows on Paramount Plus in M04, What equipment do you need to see and photograph the planets, Annular solar eclipse 2023: Everything you need to know about North America's 'ring of fire' eclipse. It is between 390 and 490 light years distant from the Sun. They are located at an angular distance of 177 arc seconds from Regulus A. The galaxy is classified as a double-barred spiral with a small inner bulge through the centre along with an outer bulge. Oops! Its estimated age is less than 400 million years. While most of the bright stars of this constellation have been named in Arabic, the Latin name Regulusmeaning 'prince' or 'little king'turns out to be an exception. In the Leo I group, Messier 95 is outshone by its brother Messier 96. The co-moving distance of 14.4 billion ly does not correspond to the lookback time because it takes into account the expansion of the universe in the time that it took for the stars light to reach us. For decades, people believed it to be a companion of Regulus, but recent studies from the Gaia satellite show this to be a background star not related to the Regulus system. Regulus is 150 times brighter than the Sun, and its energy output is 350 times that of the latter. Its arms are also asymmetrical, thought to have been influenced by the gravitational pull of other galaxies within the same group as Messier 96. It has the Bayer designation designated Leonis, which is Latinized to Alpha Leonis, and abbreviated Alpha Leo or Leo. The gaseous envelope, rich in carbon, is some 69,000 years old and the star is losing an enormous amount of mass each year. The Leo Ring is an enormous primordial cloud of hydrogen and helium found in orbit of two galaxies in the Leo constellation. The name Regulus is from the diminutive form of the Latin rex, meaning 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. The name Regulus means the little king or prince in Latin. Sigma Leonis is a blue-white star belonging to the spectral class B9.5Vs. It has a visual magnitude of 11.4 and is approximately 38 million light years distant. The companion is believed to be a white dwarf. Another, perhaps even more striking, feature of Messier 95 is its blazing golden core. The Persians might have thought otherwise if they knew what astronomers know now: it rotates extremely fast, and doesnt need to go a whole lot faster to tear itself to pieces, and like Uranus its axis is tilted, so that the poles are roughly where the equator should be. 2 stars. This refers to the star that stands in the breast of the Lion: the King. It's the brightest star in the constellation and among the brightest in Earth's night sky. They are dimmer main sequence stars with an apparent magnitude of 8.14 and 13.5. The other components of the Alpha Leonis system are still on the main sequence, but considerably fainter than Regulus A. . Source. The system lies approximately 79 light years from the Sun. A planet was discovered in the orbit of the primary star in November 2009. Wolf 359 is a red dwarf with the stellar classification M6.5Ve. The galaxy is known to have a supermassive black hole at its centre. M105 was discovered by Pierre Mchain in March 1781, a few days after he had first observed M95 and M96. It has 3 championship courses, of which 2 were designed by the famous architect . It is approximately 135 light years distant. Messier 65, Messier 66 and NGC 3628 form the famous Leo Triplet galaxy group. The three-letter abbreviation, adopted by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) in 1922, is Leo. The Behenian fixed stars are a selection of fifteen stars considered especially useful for magical applications in the medieval astrology of Europe and the Arab world. The Diamond of Virgo. It was the most important of the Four Royal Stars of the Persians, which marked the seasons. 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. Along with Messier 65 and Messier 66, NGC 3628 forms the Leo Triplet galaxy group. Fixed star Regulus, Alpha Leonis, is a 1.4 magnitude blue-white star in Leo Constellation. The spiral arms form an almost perfect circle around the galactic centre before they spread out, creating a mane-like effect of which any lion would be proud. Beta Leonis is a relatively young star. The stars heliacal rising, which is its first appearance above the horizon after a period of invisibility, occurs in the first week of September for observers in most locations. Great. It can be located using the stars of the Big Dipper; Megrez and Phecda, the two inner stars of the Dippers bowl, point the way to the asterism. [29] The center of the shadow path passed through New York and eastern Ontario, but no one is known to have seen it, due to cloud cover. Algieba (Gamma Leonis) lies on the lions neck, even though its name means the forehead. Zosma (Delta Leonis) marks the lions rump. So bright planets sometimes pass near Regulus.. It has an apparent magnitude of 4.32. Algieba is composed of a giant star with the spectral classification K1-IIIbCN0.5 and a dimmer companion star which belongs to the spectral class G7IIICN-I. The second brightest star is Denebola, an A-type main-sequence star-forming the tail of the lion. Regulus was one of the four Royal Stars of Persia, along with Fomalhaut, Antares, and Aldebaran, the brightest stars in the constellations Piscis Austrinus (the Southern Fish), Scorpius (the Scorpion), and Taurus (the Bull). It was named by the great Polish scientist, Copernicus. Aldebaran marked the vernal equinox and Antares marked the autumnal equinox, while Regulus marked the Summer Solstice and Fomalhaut the Winter Solstice. So Regulus is visible at some time of night throughout the year, except for about a month on either side of August 22. Christians in the Middle Ages sometimes referred to it as one of Daniels lions. Only Alpha Centauri in the constellation Centaurus and Barnards Star in Ophiuchus are closer. By early April, Regulus was well up in the southeast an hour after sunset. It would also be the star system from which the lions and the lion Gods (half man, half human) originally came. Regulus is part of the Sickle of Leo, a sickle-shaped asterism that represents the head of the celestial Lion. It has a visual magnitude of 10.67 and is 33.1 light years distant. History and Mythology. Regulus B and C are the other pair of stars in the system. Leo 1 is a dwarf galaxy, and a member of our local group. It was discovered by William Herschel in 1784. Regulus' location is: One of the earliest references to Regulus was in ancient Persia, around 3000 B.C.
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