Lepus
What is Lepus?
Constellations· Winter evenings (N) · under Orion's feet. The hare crouching under Orion's feet — four 3rd-magnitude stars form a small box right below Rigel. It is pictured fleeing the hunter and his big dog Sirius. Look for the globular M79 and the deep-red variable R Leporis. Check below Orion in the Sky view.
📍 Visible from where you are right now — computed in your browser
bearing · altitude · rise time · best time tonight
Where Lepus is in your sky right now: https://nowsky.org/solar/sky?sel=con:Lepus — location and time set automatically, no login.
Stars of the figure
| Star | Magnitude |
|---|---|
| Arneb | 2.6 |
The 1 brightest of the 6 stars used in the figure (5 lines). Lower magnitude means brighter.
Constellation basics
| Season | winter evenings (N) |
|---|---|
| Brightest star | Arneb (α, 2.6) |
| How to find | the small quadrilateral just below Rigel |
| Area rank | 88 |
Figures are representative approximations. Source: compiled from NASA and IAU public data.
Frequently asked
- When can I see Lepus?
- winter evenings (N).
- How do I find Lepus?
- the small quadrilateral just below Rigel.
- What is the brightest star in Lepus?
- Arneb, magnitude 2.6.
- Where is Lepus in the sky right now?
- Open the sky view for your location and time and it shows the position in the sky right now.
Was M79 in Lepus a cluster from elsewhere?
The globular cluster M79 south of Lepus is unusual from its position alone. Most globulars crowd the summer sky toward the galactic centre, but M79 lies in the opposite direction, in the winter sky, 40,000 light-years away. When a dwarf galaxy being swallowed by the Milky Way was reported in the direction of Canis Major in 2003, M79 was proposed as a cluster that came in with it.
Whether the Canis Major dwarf really exists is still debated, so M79's origin remains unsettled. That some of the Milky Way's 150-odd globulars came from small galaxies it absorbed is now firmly established by Gaia data, and M79 is on the list of candidates. The faint smudge beside the small square below Rigel on winter evenings may be evidence of how the galaxy grew.
The constellation in depth
Lepus is an ancient constellation, one of Ptolemy's 48. It is drawn as a hare fleeing at the feet of Orion the hunter and his big dog, Canis Major; ancient writers called it Orion's quarry, or a memorial to the plague of hares that once overran Sicily. Wedged among giants, it is modest but well-shaped.
Arneb — Arabic for "the hare" — and Nihal form the box of the body. On its southern edge sits M79, a rare winter globular cluster, and R Leporis, "Hind's Crimson Star", is a carbon star so red it looks like a drop of blood, pulsing between 6th and 12th magnitude over about 14 months.
From December to February, drop about 10 degrees south from Rigel, Orion's right foot, to find the little quadrilateral of 3rd-magnitude stars. From Seoul it rises above 30 degrees, so it is an easy catch. In the Sky view, select Orion and let your eye slide just below it.
Related
Figures are representative approximations. Simulated positions use J2000 mean elements.