Month Best Visible
April
Hemisphere Visible
Northern and Southern
Leo contains the bright stars Regulus (the lion's tail), Denebola and Leonis. The star Wolf 359, one of the nearest stars to Earth is in Leo. Leo contains many bright galaxies, Messier 65, Messier 66, Messier 95, Messier 96, Messier 105, and NGC 3628 are the most famous, the first two being part of the Leo Triplet. The Leo Ring, a cloud of hydrogen and helium gas, is found in orbit of two galaxies found within this constellation.
In Greek mythology, Leo was identified as the Nemean Lion which was killed by Hercules during one of his twelve labours, and subsequently put into the sky.
Neighbouring Constellations
Ursa Major (Great Bear (Dipper))
