The constellation was first catalogued by the Greek astronomer Ptolemy in the 2nd century, along with all the other constellations of the zodiac. Regulus Star Facts & Features About The Little King. 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. Beta Leonis is a relatively young star. Theta Leonis is another white main sequence star. Regulus B, meanwhile, has its own companion: Regulus C. At magnitude 13.5, its only visible with powerful telescopes. The galaxys disk appears slightly warped, which, along with some recent starburst activity, suggests that the galaxy is interacting with another object. [citation needed], The idea there existed four royal stars of Persia was analysed in a 1945 article in Popular Astronomy, where the idea was criticized as largely a relatively modern invention, and/or a misunderstanding of the original source texts.[1]. 3.33), Eta Leonis (mag. . Leo's brightest star, Regulus, was often called the "Red Flame" and was thought to contribute to the heat of summer. Draco) or exist in the real world (e.g. As a result, it has an oblate shape. It is the nearest group containing both bright spirals and a bright elliptical galaxy (Messier 105). NGC 3607 is a spiral galaxy in Leo. The 2018 Gaia data release 2 revealed it to be a background object, not physically related to the Regulus system. The star was last occulted by Venus on July 7, 1959, and the next occultation, also by Venus, will not occur until October 1, 2044. The star has a relatively high projected rotational velocity, 23 km/s. Along with the brighter Vega, Altair, and Achernar, Regulus is one of the brightest and best-known examples of gravity darkening. [18] The star's surface at the equator rotates at about 320 kilometres per second (199 miles per second), or 96.5% of its critical angular velocity for break-up. 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. He was the brother of Sirius Black, Harry's godfather, named for the brightest star in the sky. It is located at 79 light-years from us. It emits only about 0.1% of the Suns energy, has 8% of the Suns mass, and only 16% the solar radius. The stars name, Regulus, means little king or prince in Latin. Denebola also exhibits a strong infrared excess, which suggests that it may have a circumstellar debris disk of dust in its orbit. Messier 66 is an intermediate spiral galaxy in Leo. By early April, Regulus was well up in the southeast an hour after sunset. The star was listed as one of four "royal stars," first under the name Venant and then Miyan ("the center", according to the Encyclopedia of Astronomy and Astrophysics.). [26] Occultations by Mercury and Venus are possible but rare, as are occultations by asteroids. (Regulus axis is tilted 86 degrees.). For example, in 1959, Regulus was occulted by Venus. The brighter giant is 180 times more luminous than the Sun and has an apparent magnitude of 2.28. It has an apparent magnitude of 4.32. In Indian astronomy, Regulus corresponds to the Nakshatra Magha ("the bountiful"). It has an apparent magnitude of 1.35 and lies at a distance of 79.3 light years, or 24.3 parsecs, from Earth. 5-star recommended Tempe escape room, perfect for a night out, family bonding, date night, celebrations like birthday. A daily update by email. Along with Messier 65 and Messier 66, NGC 3628 forms the Leo Triplet galaxy group. Charles Messier discovered it in 1780. NY 10036. It has a visual magnitude of 10.2 and is approximately 32 million light years distant. He received his 1st telescope in 1965, a 2-inch (5cm) refractor. Lyra is a Latin name that in English means "The Lyra". Regulus A is the brightest star of the system, having around 288 solar luminosities. 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 star's influence. 166 Rhodope, an asteroid about 54.6 km in size, occulted the star on October 19, 2005. The brighter pair, designated Regulus A, is a spectroscopic binary system consisting of a bright blue star of spectral classification B7 V, and a companion that has not been directly observed, but is likely a white dwarf with a low mass of only 0.3 solar. In India it was known as Magh ("the Mighty"), in Sogdiana Magh ("the Great"), in Persia Miyan ("the Centre") and also as Venant, one of the four 'royal stars' of the Persian monarchy. The primary component was once the smaller of the two stars. 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. Rgulus is Latin for 'prince' or 'little king';[36] its Greek equivalent (Latinised) is Basiliscus. Regulus A has an average temperature of around 12.460 Kelvin. Regulus was also known by the Arabic name Qalb al-Asad, the Greek name Kardia Leontos and Latin Cor Leonis, all meaning the heart of the Lion. In Europe, the star was known as Rex and Basiliscus. 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. [32], For Earth observers, the heliacal rising (pre-sunrise appearance) of Regulus occurs late in the first week of September, or in the second week. The black hole at the centre of the galaxy is believed to have a mass of 9.7 billion solar masses. The name Denebola comes from the Arabic anab al-asad, which means the lions tail.. NGC 3842 is an elliptical galaxy, notable for having one of the largest black holes known. The star was first discovered in 1969 by the American astrophysicist Eric Brecklin and his team of astronomers. The Babylonians also recorded details of Regulus, the bright star within Leo, as The Great Lion constellation. The Gamma Leonis system has a combined apparent magnitude of 1.98 and is approximately 130 light years distant from the Sun. Another bright star, Denebola (Beta Leonis) marks the tip of the lions tail. It has 3 championship courses, of which 2 were designed by the famous architect . James Cameron, creator and director of [c]Avatar, has his sun in Magha conj regulus. The two stars take approximately 40days to complete an orbit around their common centre of mass. It has an apparent magnitude of 1.35 and is not actually a single star, but a multiple star system. In the northern hemisphere, Regulus is best seen in the evening in the late winter and spring. Search local showtimes and buy movie tickets from theaters near you on Moviefone. The primary component, formally known as Regulus, has been given the stellar classification B8 IVn, with the luminosity class of a subgiant star. NGC 3596 is an intermediate spiral galaxy with a visual magnitude of 12.0. 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. 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. The name Regulus means little king or prince in Latin. I am the child of earth and starry heaven. Petelia Tablet, We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars. Oscar Wilde. It is the 22nd brightest star, although the 21st, Alpha Centauri, is not much brighter than it is. Nevertheless, Messier 95 also makes for a spectacular image. Regulus was associated with Jupiter and Mars, and linked with granite and mugwort. Its traditional name, Adhafera, comes from the Arabic al-afrah, which means the curl or the braid.. Icarus is the second most distant individual star discovered to date, second only to Earendel (WHL0137-LS) in the constellation Cetus. It is a double star divisible in binoculars, with a secondary of magnitude 7.7. Zeta Leonis has a visual magnitude of 3.33 and is about 274 light years distant from the solar system. Alpha Leonis is the closest bright star to the ecliptic. 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. A line from Megrez through Phecda, the inner stars of the Big Dippers bowl, leads to the Sickle. The royal stars are mentioned in the Bundahishn, a collection of Zoroastrian cosmogony and cosmology. More than 80% of them are Population II stars, more than a billion years old. The name Regulus is a diminutive form of rex, which is Latin for king. Regulus isn't a single star, but rather a quadruple star system composed out of two stars organized into two pairs. Regulus is easy to find and identify because it is part of a prominent asterism known as the Sickle of Leo. 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. 35 Leonis is located 325.9 arc seconds away from Adhafera and it is only a line-of-sight companion, as it is only 100 light years distant from Earth. A supernova was observed in M95 in March 2012. The star is a very fast spinner, with a projected rotational velocity of 318 km/s at the equator. The star is approximately 247 light years distant from Earth. Regulus appears as a single star to the unaided eye, but it is in fact a quadruple star system consisting of two pairs of stars and possibly more components. In Arabic, it is . With a combined apparent magnitude of 1.40, it is the brightest star in Leo and the 21st brightest star in the sky. 1.40), Algieba (Gamma Leo, mag. Another, perhaps even more striking, feature of Messier 95 is its blazing golden core. Visit our corporate site (opens in new tab). I. The January Leonids are a minor shower that peaks between January 1 and 7. Omicron Leonis is a double star in Leo. His 2nd comet took an additional 1742 hours. 1 star. Venus last occulted Regulus on July 7, 1959. It looks like a single point of light, but is really four stars. Can you believe it? The stars share a common proper motion with Regulus A and are believed to have an orbital period of several million years with the primary. In the Babylonian MUL.APIN, Regulus is listed as Lugal, meaning king, with co-descriptor, "star of the Lion's breast".[41]. Regulus, also known as Alpha Leonis, is the brightest star in the constellation Leo and the 21st brightest star in the night sky. The existence of a white dwarf companion would mean that the system is at least 1 billion years old, just to account for the formation of the white dwarf. 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. It's the brightest star in the constellation and among the brightest in Earth's night sky. Mastodon: https://qoto.org/@howellspace, SpaceX Dragon debris lights up sky in bright fireball over western US during reentry (video), SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket aborts triple satellite launch at last minute. . . The last spate was around 2017, with occultations every month from December 2016 till July 2017, each one limited to certain areas on Earth. (The Persians called it first Venant and then Miyan (the center). If you've already donated, we apologize for the popup and greatly appreciate your support. The light of the star took 9.34 billion years to reach Earth. 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. Toucan). [citation needed] and are the brightest stars in their constellations and among the 25brightest stars in the night sky. (Cepheid variables, named after Delta Cephei in Cepheus constellation, are very luminous stars that have a direct relationship between their luminosity and pulsation period, which makes these stars important standard candles for establishing distance scales.). The BC pair lies at an angular distance of 177 arc-seconds from Regulus A, making them visible in amateur telescopes.[24]. It formally applies only to the component Alpha Leonis A, but is informally used for the whole system. The Sun joins Regulus on August 22. This phenomenon occurs mostly in barred spiral galaxies such as Messier 95 and our home, the Milky Way. It was the Polish astronomer and mathematician Nicolaus Copernicus who translated these names into Latin as Regulus. In fact, this image from Hubble frames a perfect spiral specimen: the stunning NGC 2903. CW Leonis is a carbon star embedded in a thick envelope of dust. Messier 105 is an elliptical galaxy in Leo. [4] This refers to the star that stands in the breast of the Lion: the King. [4] When the stars were aligned accordingly, favourable conditions followed, and when they were negatively aligned, disaster was predicted. Greek mythology. In Latin, the name "Regulus" means "little king." Regulus appears at the base of the Sickle and marks the Lions heart. The two stars are separated by about 100 astronomical units and have an orbital period of 2,000 years. History and mythology of Aldebaran. It has a visual magnitude of 4.1 and is about 133 light years distant from Earth. The rotation of Regulus speeds at 700,000 mph (1.1 million kph) at its equator. The two asterisms overlap in the spring night sky. And from mid-September through mid-February, Regulus will be in the morning sky. Regulus is part of the Sickle of Leo, a sickle-shaped asterism that represents the head of the celestial Lion. It can show you might rank high in urban affairs, land management, etc. Get breaking space news and the latest updates on rocket launches, skywatching events and more! The celestial Lion is one of the 48 Greek constellations, first catalogued by the Greek astronomer Ptolemy of Alexandria in his Almagest in the 2nd century CE. Both the constellation and its brightest star were well-known in most ancient cultures. Regulus can also sometimes be occulted by asteroids. 3.52), and Rho Leonis (mag. 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. The traditional name Regulus is Latin for ' prince ' or ' little king .'. 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. There are two meteor showers associated with the constellation. Regulus is about 70 light-years away from Earth, making it the closest star of this type to our planet, according to astronomer David Darling. Regulus A was long thought to be fairly young, only 50 100 million years old, calculated by comparing its temperature, luminosity, and mass. 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 is a main sequence star with the stellar classification A3 V. It has an apparent magnitude of 2.113 and is approximately 35.9 light years distant from Earth. It has an apparent magnitude of 12.6. M65 does not contain much dust and gas and there isnt much star formation occurring in it. Copernicus called it the Little King, after the Greek Basiliokos. Astronomers had a detailed look at Regulus' motion in a study published in 2005, showing that the star would only need to rotate about 10 percent faster to tear itself to pieces. If you like the image at the top, click here. Gliese 436 is another red dwarf located relatively close to the Sun. Oops! It has an apparent magnitude of 3.511 and is approximately 2,000 light years distant from Earth. Regulus in persian mythology was the Guardian of the north and it's Angelic counterpart being Archangel Michael. This occurs in spates every 9.3 years, due to lunar precession. Zosma, Delta Leonis, is another rapid rotator in Leo, with a projected rotational velocity of 180 km/s. Leo constellation lies in the northern sky. In other words, they are the brightest stars in the sky. As a result, the star is emitting polarized light. Other planets will not occult Regulus over the next few millennia because of their node positions. Leo represents the lion and is usually associated with the Nemean lion in Greek mythology. Regulus is the brightest star in the constellation of Leo and Arcturus the brightest in the constellation of Botes, so you could argue Sirius's younger brother was twice as bright. [27] The next will occur on October 1, 2044, also by Venus. In the last 40 years of his life, he completed over 50 Messier Marathons and wrote 2 books on the subject. So Regulus is visible at some time of night throughout the year, except for about a month on either side of August 22. Regulus spins on its axis once every 16 hours. Leo is also home to the red dwarf Wolf 359, one of the nearest stars to the Sun at a distance of 7.86 light years, the bright variable red giant star R Leonis, Icarus (MACS J1149 LS1), one of the most distant stars discovered to date, and the carbon star CW Leonis, the brightest star in the infrared N-band (10 m). The three-letter abbreviation, adopted by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) in 1922, is Leo. [23], The Regulus system as a whole is the twenty-first brightest star in the night sky with an apparent magnitude of +1.35. Designated RegulusB and RegulusC, the pair has Henry Draper Catalogue number HD 87884. Experience the game! If you use any of the content on this page in your own work, please use the code below to cite this page as the source of the content. The neighboring constellations are Cancer, Coma Berenices, Crater, Hydra, Leo Minor, Lynx, Sextans, Ursa Major and Virgo. 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. HD 87884 is separated from Regulus by 176 and is itself a close pair. The stars Greek name, Basiliscos, had the same meaning. A and BC share a common proper motion and are thought to orbit each other[5] taking several million years. Consequently, its apparent magnitude varies too, ranging from 1.19 to 10.96. On March 20, 2014, the star was occulted by 163 Erigone, a relatively large asteroid first discovered in April 1876. (The sun's rotation is about 4,500 mph or 7,242 kph.) The two stars have an orbital period of 500 years. The name of this star is a diminutive form of the Latin Rex. As an 8th magnitude star, Regulus B can be seen with binoculars. It has a visual magnitude varying from 4.4 to 11.3 with a period of 312 days and is classified as a Mira variable. 1", "Occultations of bright stars by planets between 0 and 4000", "The 2001 US Naval Observatory Double Star CD-ROM. It is almost finished fusing hydrogen into helium in its core. Regulus A is itself a spectroscopic binary; the secondary star has not yet been directly observed as it is much fainter than the primary. It has an apparent magnitude of 1.35, making it the 21st brightest star in the night sky. Located in the southern hemisphere, Centaurus is named for the half man half horse creatures of Greek mythology. Some Renaissance astrologers called it the Royal Star. The central region of M95 has a ring-shaped starburst region around the core with a diameter spanning about 2,000 light years. CW Leonis is at a late stage of its evolution, blowing off its outer layer to eventually become a white dwarf. Astrophotography with a film camera: Is it possible? Mass transfer from the white dwarf progenitor onto Regulus accounts for any discrepancies between the stars age and its mass, temperature, and luminosity. These limelight-hogging celestial objects combine whirling, pinwheeling arms with scatterings of sparkling stars, glowing bursts of gas, and dark, weaving lanes of cosmic dust, creating truly awesome scenes especially when viewed through a telescope such as the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. NGC 3384 belongs to the M96 Group (Leo I Group) of galaxies. 2.56), Epsilon Leonis (mag. He ultimately discovered a total of 12 comets, which bear his name. Theta Leonis has an estimated age of 550 million years, which means that it is much younger than the Sun. It has a visual magnitude of 10.67 and is 33.1 light years distant. . Regulus' location is: One of the earliest references to Regulus was in ancient Persia, around 3000 B.C. Inferno Escape Room. The Sickle can be found using the bright stars of the Big Dipper, the most recognizable part of the constellation Ursa Major. For example, in mid-July 2023, both Venus and Mars will visit Regulus in the evening sky. Messier 65, image: Adam Block/Mount Lemmon SkyCenter/University of Arizona (CC BY-SA 4.0). Because of its proximity to Earth, the star is often mentioned in works of fiction. Leo is one of the oldest constellations in the sky. Elizabeth is also a post-secondary instructor in communications and science since 2015. These include the Messier 96 Group (the Leo I Group) with member galaxies Messier 95, Messier 96, and Messier 105, and the Messier 66 Group (the Leo Triplet), which consists of the galaxies Messier 65, Messier 66, and NGC 3628. Regulus, also known as Alpha Leonis, is the brightest star in the constellation Leo and the 21st brightest star in the night sky. 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. For other uses, see, Notable stars and star systems coplanar with the ecliptic (and sun and approximately its planets, but specifically earth), "Validation of the new Hipparcos reduction", "MSC a catalogue of physical multiple stars", "Spectroscopic Detection of the Pre-White Dwarf Companion of Regulus", "Gaia Early Data Release 3: Summary of the contents and survey properties", "Bulletin of the IAU Working Group on Star Names, No. Regulus is not really a single star, but a multiple star system. It was another of the constellations identified by Ptolemy, but records show that it was known to an earlier Greek astronomer named Eudoxus. There will be a series of 20 lunar occultations of Regulus from July 26, 2025, to December 27, 2026. Heracles is represented by the larger constellation Hercules. Regulus lies only 0.46 degrees from the ecliptic, which is the Suns apparent path across the sky, through the zodiac constellations, and is regularly occulted by the Moon and very rarely by Mercury and Venus. "Regulus Star Facts & Features About The Little King". And Regulus is not the only star with a fast spin. 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. Regulus is actually a quadruple-star system composed of four stars that are organized into two pairs. [citation needed] In Chinese it is known as , the Fourteenth Star of Xuanyuan, the Yellow Emperor. Babylonians called it Sharru ("the King"), and it marked the 15th ecliptic constellation.
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