Lepus is a

constellation A constellation is an area on the celestial sphere in which a group of visible stars forms Asterism (astronomy), a perceived pattern or outline, typically representing an animal, mythological subject, or inanimate object. The first constellati ...

lying just south of the

celestial equator The celestial equator is the great circle of the imaginary celestial sphere on the same plane as the equator of Earth. By extension, it is also a plane of reference in the equatorial coordinate system. Due to Earth's axial tilt, the celestial ...

. Its name is

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

for

hare Hares and jackrabbits are mammals belonging to the genus ''Lepus''. They are herbivores and live Solitary animal, solitarily or in pairs. They nest in slight depressions called forms, and their young are precociality, able to fend for themselves ...

. It is located below—immediately south—of

Orion Orion may refer to: Common meanings * Orion (constellation), named after the mythical hunter * Orion (mythology), a hunter in Greek mythology Arts and media Fictional entities Characters and species * Orion (character), a DC Comics c ...

(the hunter), and is sometimes represented as a hare being chased by Orion or by Orion's hunting dogs. Although the hare does not represent any particular figure in

Greek mythology Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of ancient Greek folklore, today absorbed alongside Roman mythology into the broader designation of classical mythology. These stories conc ...

, Lepus was one of the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd-century astronomer

Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; , ; ; – 160s/170s AD) was a Greco-Roman mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were important to later Byzantine science, Byzant ...

, and it remains one of the

88 modern constellations In contemporary astronomy, 88 constellations are recognized by the International Astronomical Union (IAU). Each constellation is a region of the sky bordered by arcs of right ascension and declination, together covering the entire celestial sph ...

History and mythology

Lepus is most often represented as a hare being hunted by

, whose hunting dogs (

Canis Major Canis Major is a constellation in the southern celestial hemisphere. In the second century, it was included in Ptolemy's 48 constellations, and is counted among the 88 modern constellations. Its name is Latin for "greater dog" in contrast to C ...

and

Canis Minor Canis Minor is a small constellation in the Celestial sphere, northern celestial hemisphere. In the second century, it was included as an Asterism (astronomy), asterism, or pattern, of two stars in Ptolemy's 48 constellations, and it is counte ...

) pursue it. The constellation is also associated with the

Moon rabbit The Moon rabbit, Moon hare or Jade rabbit is a mythical figure in both East Asian and indigenous American folklore, based on interpretations that identify the lunar mare, dark markings on the near side of the Moon as a rabbit or hare. In East A ...

. Four stars of this constellation (α, β, γ, δ Lep) form a quadrilateral and are known as ''‘Arsh al- Jawzā''', "the Throne of Jawzā'" or ''Kursiyy al-Jawzā' al-Mu'akhkhar'', "the Hindmost Chair of Jawzā'" and ''al-Nihāl'', "the

Camel A camel (from and () from Ancient Semitic: ''gāmāl'') is an even-toed ungulate in the genus ''Camelus'' that bears distinctive fatty deposits known as "humps" on its back. Camels have long been domesticated and, as livestock, they provid ...

s Quenching Their Thirst" in

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

Features

Stars

There are a fair number of bright stars, both single and double, in Lepus.

Alpha Leporis Alpha Leporis (α Leporis, abbreviated Alpha Lep, α Lep), formally named Arneb , is the brightest star in the constellation of Lepus. Nomenclature ''Alpha Leporis'' is the star's Bayer designation. The traditional name ''Arneb'' com ...

, the brightest star of Lepus, is a

white supergiant Supergiants are among the most massive and most luminous stars. Supergiant stars occupy the top region of the Hertzsprung–Russell diagram, with absolute visual magnitudes between about −3 and −8. The temperatures of supergiant stars range ...

of magnitude 2.6, 1300

light-years A light-year, alternatively spelled light year (ly or lyr), is a unit of length used to express astronomical distances and is equal to exactly , which is approximately 9.46 trillion km or 5.88 trillion mi. As defined by the International Astro ...

from Earth. Its traditional name, Arneb (''أرنب'' ''’arnab''), means "hare" in

Beta Leporis Beta Leporis (β Leporis, abbreviated Beta Lep, β Lep), formally named Nihal , is the second brightest star in the constellation of Lepus. Nomenclature ''Beta Leporis'' is the star's Bayer designation. It is also kn ...

, traditionally known as Nihal (Arabic for "quenching their thirst"), is a

yellow giant A giant star has a substantially larger radius and luminosity than a main-sequence (or ''dwarf'') star of the same surface temperature. They lie above the main sequence (luminosity class V in the Yerkes spectral classification) on the Hertzspru ...

of magnitude 2.8, 159 light-years from Earth.

Gamma Leporis Gamma Leporis, Latinized from γ Leporis, is a star in the southern half of the constellation Lepus, southeast of Beta Leporis and southwest of Delta Leporis. With an apparent visual magnitude of 3.587, it is bright enough to be seen wi ...

is a double star divisible in binoculars. The primary is a yellow star of magnitude 3.6, 29 light-years from Earth. The secondary is an orange star of magnitude 6.2.

Delta Leporis Delta Leporis which is latinized from δ Leporis is a solitary, orange-hued star in the southern constellation of Lepus. It is visible to the naked eye with an apparent visual magnitude of 3.85. Based upon an annual parallax shift of 28.68 ...

is a yellow giant of magnitude 3.8, 112 light-years from Earth. Epsilon Leporis is an

orange giant A giant star has a substantially larger radius and luminosity than a main-sequence (or ''dwarf'') star of the same surface temperature. They lie above the main sequence (luminosity class V in the Yerkes spectral classification) on the Hertzspr ...

of magnitude 3.2, 227 light-years from Earth. Kappa Leporis is a double star divisible in medium aperture amateur telescopes, 560 light-years from Earth. The primary is a blue-white star of magnitude 4.4 and the secondary is a star of magnitude 7.4. There are several

variable star A variable star is a star whose brightness as seen from Earth (its apparent magnitude) changes systematically with time. This variation may be caused by a change in emitted light or by something partly blocking the light, so variable stars are ...

s in Lepus.

R Leporis R Leporis (R Lep), sometimes called Hind's Crimson Star, is a well-known variable star in the constellation Lepus, near its border with Eridanus. It is a carbon star which appears distinctly red. It is named after famous Brit ...

is a

Mira variable Mira variables (named for the prototype star Mira) are a class of pulsating stars characterized by very red colours, pulsation periods longer than 100 days, and amplitudes greater than one magnitude in infrared and 2.5 magnitude at visual wave ...

star. It is also called "Hind's Crimson Star" for its striking red color and because it was named for

John Russell Hind John Russell Hind FRS FRSE LLD (12 May 1823 – 23 December 1895) was an English astronomer. Life and work John Russell Hind was born in 1823 in Nottingham, the son of lace manufacturer John Hind and Elizabeth Russell, and was educated at ...

. It varies in magnitude from a minimum of 9.8 to a maximum of 7.3, with a period of 420 days. R Leporis is at a distance of 1500 light-years. The color intensifies as the star brightens. It can be as dim as magnitude 12 and as bright as magnitude 5.5. T Leporis is also a Mira variable observed in detail by

ESO The European Southern Observatory is an astronomical research organisation. ESO may also refer to: *Employee stock option (also: executive stock option) *'' Ether Saga Odyssey'', a fantasy massively multiplayer online role-playing game *''The Elde ...

Very Large Telescope The Very Large Telescope (VLT) is an astronomical facility operated since 1998 by the European Southern Observatory, located on Cerro Paranal in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile. It consists of four individual telescopes, each equipped with ...

Interferometer Interferometry is a technique which uses the '' interference'' of superimposed waves to extract information. Interferometry typically uses electromagnetic waves and is an important investigative technique in the fields of astronomy, fiber opt ...

.Unique Details Of Double Star In Orion Nebula And Star T Leporis Captured By 'Virtual' Telescope. ScienceDaily. Retrieved February 19, 2009

/ref> RX Leporis is a semi-regular

red giant A red giant is a luminous giant star of low or intermediate mass (roughly 0.3–8 solar masses ()) in a late phase of stellar evolution. The stellar atmosphere, outer atmosphere is inflated and tenuous, making the radius large and the surface t ...

that has a period of 2 months. It has a minimum magnitude of 7.4 and a maximum magnitude of 5.0.

Deep-sky objects

There is one

Messier object The Messier objects are a set of 110 astronomical objects catalogued by the French astronomer Charles Messier in his ' (''Catalogue of Nebulae and Star Clusters''). Because Messier was interested only in finding comets, he created a list of th ...

in Lepus, M79. It is a

globular cluster A globular cluster is a spheroidal conglomeration of stars that is bound together by gravity, with a higher concentration of stars towards its center. It can contain anywhere from tens of thousands to many millions of member stars, all orbiting ...

magnitude Magnitude may refer to: Mathematics *Euclidean vector, a quantity defined by both its magnitude and its direction *Magnitude (mathematics), the relative size of an object *Norm (mathematics), a term for the size or length of a vector *Order of ...

8.0, 42,000 light-years from Earth. One of the few globular clusters visible in the Northern Celestial Hemisphere's winter, it is a Shapley class V cluster, which means that it has an intermediate concentration towards its center. It is often described as having a "

starfish Starfish or sea stars are Star polygon, star-shaped echinoderms belonging to the class (biology), class Asteroidea (). Common usage frequently finds these names being also applied to brittle star, ophiuroids, which are correctly referred to ...

" shape. M79 was discovered in 1780 by

Pierre Méchain Pierre François André Méchain (; 16 August 1744 – 20 September 1804) was a French astronomer and surveyor who, with Charles Messier, was a major contributor to the early study of deep-sky objects and comets. Life Pierre Méchain was bo ...

References

Inline citations

Sources referenced

* * * * * * Ridpath, Ian & Tirion, Wil (2007). ''Stars and Planets Guide'', Collins, London. .

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

Press, Princeton. .

External links

Hundred metre virtual telescope captures unique detailed colour image
—

's Organisational Release
The Deep Photographic Guide to the Constellations: Lepus

Warburg Institute Iconographic Database (medieval and early modern images of Lepus)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lepus (Constellation) Constellations Southern constellations Constellations listed by Ptolemy