The Cosmic Reporter
by Tim and Brenda Linder
"Leo, the Lion"
The constellation of Leo is
now rising in the eastern sky
and is well up by 9 p.m.
Although Leo represents a lion,
it looks more like a backward
question mark.
The association with a lion
dates back about 5,000 years
ago when the sun rose in the
constellation of Leo at the
Summer Solstice. During the
Summer in the Middle East the
sun was fierce and destroying.
So, of course, the fierce and
powerful lion was an appropri
ate symbol.
In Greek mythology, Leo was
known as Nemean Lion. It was
a monstrous beast whose
mother was the moon. When it
came to Earth as a shooting star,
it completely devoured all the
people and animals of a large
area of Greece.
Hercules, a half-god with
superhuman strength, was
ordered to destroy the beast.
Since no weapon could pierce
the skin of the lion, Hercules
was forced to chase it into a
cave and choke it to death with
his hands. Hercules skinned the
lion and used the skin as a
shield until his death. After
Hercules died, the skin of the
lion was nailed in the sky as a
trophy where it hangs today.
There are several galaxies in
the constellation of Leo that are
of interest to the telescopic
observer. M65 and M66 are two
galaxies near the "hips" of the
Lion. They are of magnitudes 9
and 8, respectively, and appear
as two elongated patches of
light when viewed through a
IpIp^caop
M95, P M96, and M105 are all
at the "belly" of Leo. M96 and
M105 are of magnitude 9 while
M95 is of magnitude 10. M95
and M96 are close enough
together to be seen through the
same low power field of a tele
scope. M105 can be found a
little to the north of M95 and
M96.
The star marked "A" on the
starmap is Gamma Leonis
which is a very nice double star.
Its components are of magni
tudes 2.4 and 3.8, and both are
yellowish in color. This double
star will be most striking when
viewed through a telescope.
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