Leo, the lion

Leo is one of the few constellations that looks like what it is named for: a crouching lion. Six stars in the shape of a sickle outline his head and chest, with bright Regulus at the bottom.

Where is it from where I am?

How to spot it: A sickle of six stars ending in bright Regulus. Source (opens in a new tab)

The Sickle and the little king

Ridpath (opens in a new tab) describes the head and chest outlined by six stars in the shape of a sickle. At its foot, marking the lion's heart, is Regulus, Latin for "little king"; the Babylonians called it LUGAL, king. The star at the tail, Denebola, takes its name from the Arabic for "the lion's tail".

The lion of Nemea

Greek writers identified the lion as the lion of Nemea (opens in a new tab), whose hide no weapon could pierce, killed by Heracles as the first of his labours.

Galaxies and meteors

Two spiral galaxies, Messier 65 and 66 (opens in a new tab), part of the Leo Triplet about 35 million light-years away, are within reach of a small telescope. Every November the Leonid meteor shower appears to stream out of Leo, and in 1833 it produced one of the great meteor storms on record.

In another tradition

In Vedic astrology Regulus is the star of Magha, "the throne".

Where on Earth, and when

The whole key pattern rises from anywhere north of about 70°S.

South of about 78°S, none of it rises.

North of about 78°N, the whole key pattern never sets.

Its middle climbs at least 20° high, the finder's threshold for a suggestion, from latitudes between 53°S and 87°N.

It is highest in the evening sky, at about 9 p.m. local time, in mid-April, from either hemisphere, wherever it rises. With daylight saving time, that is nearer 10 p.m. on the clock.

Worked out by this site from the Bright Star Catalogue, for a flat, clear horizon. Hills, buildings, haze and city light all cut into this; the air also lifts objects near the horizon by about half a degree. For your own place and night, use the sky finder.