Regulus
The heart of Leo, a blue-white star spinning so fast that it is close to flying apart.
Tonight from
Rise, highest point and set are worked out on your device for the place above.
What it is
- Brightness
- Magnitude 1.36, the 23rd brightest star in the night sky
- Distance
- 79 light years
- Kind of star
- Blue-white main-sequence star, spectral type B7 V
- Light it gives out
- About 150 times the Sun’s, in visible light
- Constellation
- Leo, where it is α Leonis
- Catalogue number
- HIP 49669
Figures from HYG database 4.1 (Hipparcos, Yale Bright Star and Gliese catalogues), CC BY-SA 4.0. All sources
Near it in the sky
- Beehive ClusterAn open cluster in Cancer, about a hand span away.
- DenebolaA white main-sequence star in Leo, about a hand span away.
- Virgo AA galaxy in Virgo, about two hand spans away.
- Coma Star ClusterAn open cluster in Coma Berenices, about two hand spans away.
- PolluxAn orange giant in Gemini, about two hand spans away.