2Leo

__The Leo Constellation__ 

__** Description **__
 * Constellations are sets of certain stars that are formed into patterns. Leo is one of the 88 constellations in the night sky. It is the fifth constellation of the Zodiac, and lies between dim Cancer to the West, and Virgo to the East. Leo reaches it's highest point in the evening sky in April. It contains many bright stars, including __Regulus__, __Denebola__, and __Leonis__. Leo has 11 named stars, and some other un-named stars also.

__** Quick Facts **__ There are many different translations for the word "Leo", but the most common is in Latin. And that's where "the Lion" came from. Like many other ancient constellations, many of Leo's stars are named. This constellations brightest star is Regulus, and its dimmest star is Adhafera. The nearest star to Earth is Wolf359 which is 7.7 Lightyears away from Earth. Leo also has 5 messier objects which are M64, M66, M95, M96, and M105. M64, and 66 (Part of the Leo Triplet),95, and 96 are all spiral galaxies and M105 is an elliptical galaxy. There is a big cloud of hydrogen and helium gas in orbit, between galaxies, and it is known as "The Leo Ring". Leo is also ruled by the Sun in Greek Mythology. Even though this is one of the smaller star patterns in the sky, Leo is really an interesting constellation to study.
 * __Mythology__** [[image:r_522.gif width="238" height="273" align="left" caption="Leo's Sign in the Zodiac"]]
 * Leo is most commonly known as the lion constellation. It has been represented as a lion by numerous civilizations for thousands of years. This lion represents strength in Greek storytelling because it was identified as the Nemean Lion which was killed by Hercules during one of his twelve labors, and then put in the sky. To the egyptians, Leo was the place the sun rose after creation. Also in Egyptian mythology, "The Stellar Lion", showed only a part of the constellation as it is now. This constellation is commonly represented as if the sickle-shaped asterism of stars is the back of the lion's head. And in the earliest records some of its stars were shown as a knife, but now they are known as a sickle.As you can see, the Greek's and Egyptians had very different perspectives on how Leo got where it was today.

__**Charts & Diagrams**__





__**Works Cited**__

"__Leo__." __The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sxth Edition.__ 2008. Encyclopedia.com. 5 Mar 2009 

"Leo (Constellation)." 2001. 1-2. 12 Mar 2009 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leo_Constellation.

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 * __Recommended Sites__**

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