Leo Minor - Definition and Overview

Leo minor
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Abbreviation	LMi
Genitive	Leonis Minoris
Symbology	the Small Lion
Right ascension	10 h
Declination	35°
Area	232 sq. deg. Ranked 64th
Number of stars (magnitude < 3)	0
Brightest star	Praecipua (46 LMi) (App. magnitude 3.83)
Meteor showers
Bordering constellations	Ursa Major Lynx Cancer Leo
Visible at latitudes between +90° and −45° Best visible during the month of April

Leo Minor (Latin for Small Lion) is a rather dim constellation that can - barely - be recognized as a triangle and lies between the easily discerned constellations Ursa Major and Leo. In contrast to Leo it does not belong to the ancient list of 48 constellations drawn up by Ptolemy in the 2nd century AD, but was instead created by Johannes Hevelius in 1687.

Notable features

There is little to see for owners of small telescopes. There is only one star brighter than 4m:

• Praecipua (46 LMi): an almost (but not quite) giant star of spectral class K0 which lies at a distance of approximately 98 light-years and sports an apparent brightness of 3.83m. Praecipua does not have a Bayer designation, making Leo Minor the only constellation whose brightest star does not have one.
• β (beta) LMi: strangely enough this giant star of spectral class G8 is the only star with a Bayer letter, and with its apparent magnitude of 4.21m it isn not even the brightest one of Leo Minor.
• R LMi: the brightness of this cool long-period variable star (a Mira variable) varies between 6.3m and 13.2m during a period of 372.19 days.

Notable deep sky objects

Leo Minor does not contain any notable deep sky objects. The brightest one is NGC 3003, a galaxy with an apparent brightness of 11.7m and an angular size of 5.9 arcminutes. It is seen almost edge-on.

History

Being a rather new constellation there is no real mythology attached to it. It was created by Hevelius in 1687.