Leo

The backward question mark

You can see it with your eyes

Leo — The six stars of the Sickle form the head: they look like a question mark written backward.

Finding it in the sky

When to look

Evenings from December to June, looking south. The best time is spring, when the figure is already high in the sky in the first hours of the night.

How to recognize it

Look for a backward question mark made of six stars, with the brightest one at the bottom. That is the head. The rest of the body is a trapezoid of stars to its left.

The main stars

RegulusAlfa Leonis
DenebolaBeta Leonis
AlgiebaGamma Leonis
ZosmaDelta Leonis

To get an idea

Regulus is the only star this bright to sit almost exactly on the path the Sun, Moon and planets travel.

When the figure appears in the east right after sunset, spring is only a few weeks away.

Fun facts

These are not in the book: there was no room on paper.

Denebola, the star of the tail, takes its name from the Arabic for the lion's tail.
Algieba means the forehead, and it is a pair of yellow giant stars that a small telescope can split.
Denebola is fairly close to us: its light takes about thirty-six years to arrive.
Long ago this constellation was bigger, and the tip of the tail was a tuft of stars.
Behind its stars dozens of distant galaxies are hiding, visible only through a telescope.
Every November the shooting stars called the Leonids seem to start from this very constellation.

Test yourself

The first question is the one printed under the QR code, with the answer the book did not give. The other four only exist here.

Question 1 of 5★ is the one from your book

How do you recognize Leo?

Question 2 of 5

What does the name Regulus mean?

Question 3 of 5

Why does the Moon often cover Regulus?

Question 4 of 5

What season does this constellation announce?

Question 5 of 5

What does Denebola mean?

Riddles

In the sky my head is a question mark written backward, and my body is a trapezoid of stars. When you see me appear in the east in the evening, winter is about to end. What am I?

In my chest beats a star the ancients called the little king, and every now and then the Moon passes in front of it and hides it for a while. What am I?

I crouch like someone waiting, with a mane made of six stars and a tail that carries an Arabic name. You see me best when the evenings start getting longer. What am I?

Try it yourself

Activity 1

If you see the Moon near that star, note the time and look again an hour later: the Moon will have moved, the star will not.

Activity 2

Compare the color of Regulus with that of a red star like Antares, in summer. One is bluish, the other clearly orange.

The words

zodiac constellation: One of the constellations crossed by the Sun's apparent path.
occultation: When the Moon passes in front of a star and hides it for a while.

Sources: Wikidata (Q10433), Wikipedia (Leone (costellazione)).