Leo Minor

Leo Minor is a small northern constellation between Leo and Ursa Major. Johannes Hevelius introduced it in the 17th century.

Connect

Constellation: A constellation is a defined region of the celestial sphere, often associated with a traditional star pattern. Leo Minor is one of the 88 officially recognized regions of the sky.
Johannes Hevelius: Johannes Hevelius was a 17th-century astronomer who observed, mapped, and catalogued the sky from Danzig. He introduced Leo Minor in his celestial atlas.
Equatorial coordinate system: The equatorial coordinate system locates celestial objects using right ascension and declination. Leo Minor’s stars and boundaries are charted in these coordinates.
NGC 3344: NGC 3344 is a nearby barred spiral galaxy in the constellation Leo Minor. It is a prominent face-on galaxy located within the constellation.
Ursa Major: Ursa Major is a large northern constellation containing the Big Dipper asterism. Its southern boundary lies beside Leo Minor.
Firmamentum Sobiescianum: Firmamentum Sobiescianum is Johannes Hevelius’s posthumously published star atlas of 1690. The atlas depicts Leo Minor among Hevelius’s constellation creations.
Right ascension: Right ascension is the celestial coordinate analogous to longitude, measured eastward along the celestial equator. It identifies where Leo Minor lies around the sky’s rotational axis.
NGC 3003: NGC 3003 is a barred spiral galaxy in Leo Minor, seen nearly edge-on from Earth. Its elongated appearance contrasts with the face-on view of NGC 3344.
Leo: Leo is a zodiac constellation in the northern celestial hemisphere, recognizable by its sickle-shaped star pattern. Leo Minor lies directly north of its larger namesake.
Uranographia: Uranographia is Johann Bode’s 1801 celestial atlas, depicting the constellations across the entire sky. Its maps helped establish Leo Minor in widely circulated star charts.