regulus star mythology

Before the discovery of the white dwarf, Regulus was believed to be a much younger star, with an estimated age between 50 and 100 million years. Zeta Leonis is a giant star belonging to the spectral class F0 III. With five stars brighter than magnitude 3.0, it is easy to spot, even from areas with some light pollution. By the time of the Persian Empire (550 BC330 BC), Aldebaran watched the Eastern sky and was the dominant star in the Taurus constellation, Regulus watched the North and was the dominant star in the Leo constellation, Antares watched the West and was the alpha star in Scorpio, and Fomalhaut watched the Southern sky and was the brightest star in Piscis Austrinus (sharing the same longitude with the star Sadalmelik which is the predominant star in Aquarius). In the sky, the six bright stars that form the Sickle of Leo represent the lions head, and the brightest star in the constellation, Regulus (Alpha Leonis), marks the beasts heart. In other words, Kepler's third law, which holds exactly only for two point-like masses, would no longer be valid for the Regulus system. "Regulus Star Facts & Features About The Little King". It has an apparent magnitude of 4.32. If it were rotating 16% faster, the centripetal force provided by the stars gravity would not be enough to hold the star together. They regarded Regulus as - the star that stands at the Lion's breast - or sometimes The King Star. It has a visual magnitude of 11.4 and is approximately 38 million light years distant. Together with the bright Spica in Virgo and Arcturus in Botes, Regulus forms the Spring Triangle, another prominent asterism appearing in the evening sky from March to May. In about 600 million years, it will become a red giant. The Persians knew the constellation as Shir or Ser, Babylonians called it UR.GU.LA (the great lion), Syrians knew it as Aryo, and the Turks as Artan. As Regulus closely aligns to the mean orbits of large bodies of the solar system and involves more light reaching the Earth than such other stars, the system has advanced telescopic use (to study and identify objects occulting and casting their shadow on a telescope, including known or unknown asteroids of the solar system such as Trojans, being in line by definition with their associated planetary plane). The January Leonids are a minor shower that peaks between January 1 and 7. This black hole releases huge amounts of energy as it consumes matter falling into it and causing the centre to shine far brighter than its surroundings. They are located 100 astronomical units away from each other and have an orbital period of 2,000 years. Regulus was associated with Jupiter and Mars, and linked with granite and mugwort. [5], The royal stars were used primarily for navigation. Elizabeth holds a Ph.D. and M.Sc. Some Peruvians also knew these stars as the Mountain Lion, whereas in China it was sometimes seen as a horse, and at other times as part of a dragon. 61 reviews. Leo 1 is a dwarf galaxy, and a member of our local group. In Arabia, Regulus was referred to as Malikiyy, "the kingly one", according to stellar nomenclature expert Richard Hinckley Allen. The name Regulus is a diminutive form of rex, which is Latin for king. You might have heard of a star called Regulus D. This does not refer to the spectroscopic companion of Regulus A, but to a 12th-magnitude star that sits 212 arcseconds from Regulus. The constellation is home to the Leo Triplet of galaxies, which consists of the galaxies Messier 65, Messier 66, and NGC 3628, the Leo I Group, which includes the spiral galaxies Messier 95 and Messier 96 and the elliptical galaxy Messier 105, and the Cosmic Horseshoe, a gravitationally lensed system of two galaxies located at a distance of 5.2 and 10.3 gigalight years, discovered in 2007. It is between 390 and 490 light years distant from the Sun. Regulus B is much dimmer, having only 0.50 solar luminosities, and an average temperature of around 4.885 Kelvin. The light output is dominated by Regulus A. Regulus B, if seen in isolation, would be a binocular object of magnitude +8.1, and its companion, Regulus C, the faintest of the three stars that has been directly observed, would require a substantial telescope to be seen, at magnitude +13.5. The constellation was first catalogued by the Greek astronomer Ptolemy in the 2nd century, along with all the other constellations of the zodiac. It has a visual magnitude of 10.2 and is approximately 32 million light years distant. It has an apparent magnitude of 10.1 and is about 31 million light years distant. The galaxy was discovered by the French astronomer Pierre Mchain in 1781 and Charles Messier subsequently included it in his catalogue four days later. The lion lived in a cave in Nemea, a town located to the south-west of Corinth. 163 Erigone, a large, dark asteroid from the asteroid belt, about 73 km in size, occulted Regulus on March 20, 2014. These stars were considered to be the guardians of the sky in ancient Persia, around the year 3000 BCE. HD 87884 is separated from Regulus by 176 and is itself a close pair. Iota Leonis is a spectroscopic binary star with the stellar classification F3 V. It has a visual magnitude of 4.00 and is approximately 79 light years distant from the Sun. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Leo Triplet, image: Wikimedia Commons/Marekmazuch (CC BY-SA 4.0). It has a surface temperature of 4,885 Kelvin (8,333 F or 4,612 C), and it shines at a magnitude of 8.1. The cloud was discovered by radio astronomers in 1983. It is classified as a high proper motion star. Along with Regulus in Leo, Alpha Virginis is believed to be one of the bright stars that made it possible for Hipparchus (160 - 120 BC) to discover the precession of the equinoxes, after comparing his data to that of the Alexandrian Timochares, who had observed Spica and Regulus around 300 BC. Fixed star Regulus, Alpha Leonis, is a 1.4 magnitude blue-white star in Leo Constellation. The main star Regulus A is large and blue with a spectral type of B8 IVn. Except that he did throw his lot in with Voldemort, which doesn't strike us as particularly clever. Regulus is a four-star system composed of two pairs of stars. These are the 22 stars with apparent magnitudes of less than +1.50. History and mythology of Aldebaran. R Leonis has a radius 320-350 times solar. When Aldebaran was the star of the spring equinox, Regulus would have been the summer solstice star. Because Regulus was the most influential of the royal stars, events that took place while Regulus was in dominance were amplified and grave, foreshadowing destruction, depending on what planet or planets might be in conjunction with the star. For this reason, it is regularly occulted by the Moon and, rarely, by Mercury and Venus. It is located in the second quadrant of the northern hemisphere (NQ2) and can be seen at latitudes between +90 and -65. "A companion may be a low mass white dwarf or main sequence star," a preprint version of the research paper read. Regulus' location is: One of the earliest references to Regulus was in ancient Persia, around 3000 B.C. For other uses, see, Notable stars and star systems coplanar with the ecliptic (and sun and approximately its planets, but specifically earth), "Validation of the new Hipparcos reduction", "MSC a catalogue of physical multiple stars", "Spectroscopic Detection of the Pre-White Dwarf Companion of Regulus", "Gaia Early Data Release 3: Summary of the contents and survey properties", "Bulletin of the IAU Working Group on Star Names, No. It consists of two pairs of stars. This fast rotation causes Regulus A to bulge at its equator, so it appears oblate, or egg-shaped. The star is sometimes known by its traditional names Chort (from the Arabic al-khart or al-khurt, which means small rib), Coxa (Latin for hip) and Chertan (from the Arabic al-khartn, meaning two small ribs). The rotation of Regulus speeds at 700,000 mph (1.1 million kph) at its equator. The galaxy resembles a giant maelstrom of glowing gas, rippled with dark dust that swirls inwards towards the nucleus. 3.52), and Rho Leonis (mag. This sky map shows the location of brilliant planet Venus and the bright star Regulus in the pre-dawn sky on Oct. 3, 2012, as viewed from mid-northern latitudes. 2. Regulus was seen as the main star because it was in the constellation of Leo, giving it the power of the lion, signifying the strength of kings with large implications. The star was last occulted by Venus on July 7, 1959, and the next occultation, also by Venus, will not occur until October 1, 2044. Stewart, Suzy. Regulus, Denebola, the Leo Triplet and the Leo I Group, image: Wikisky. The star Spica - aka Alpha Virginis - is the brightest star in the constellation Virgo the Maiden. The fourth star in the system has never been directly resolved via imaging, but its presence is revealed by spectroscopic analysis of Regulus A. Astronomers think it may be a closely orbiting white dwarf star. The primary component, formally known as Regulus, has been given the stellar classification B8 IVn, with the luminosity class of a subgiant star. Heres how it works. By early June, itll be high in the southwest an hour after sunset. The poles are said to be gravity brightened, while the equator is gravity darkened. The poles of Regulus are five times brighter than the equator. They are the only navigational stars in Leo. It's whopping 75 times larger than the Sun, and incredible 150 times brighter! Also, with a rotation period of 15.9 hours, Regulus is a lot faster than the Sun. He's a longtime member of NASA's Solar System Ambassadors program. Regulus, Alpha Leonis ( Leo), is the primary component in a multiple-star system located 79.3 light-years away in the constellation Leo. A line from Megrez through Phecda, the inner stars of the Big Dippers bowl, leads to the Sickle. 1.40), Algieba (Gamma Leo, mag. Wigwam Resort Golf Course. Its estimated age is 162 million years. The 2018 Gaia data release 2 revealed it to be a background object, not physically related to the Regulus system. The stars projected rotational velocity is 128 km/s. The Planets. Regulus has a mass 3.8 times that of the Sun and a radius 4.35 times solar. NGC 3626 is a medium-tightness spiral galaxy in Leo. 5 star rating. More than 80% of them are Population II stars, more than a billion years old. M95 belongs to the M96 Group of galaxies, which also includes M96 and M105, and also at least nine other galaxies. It has a mass of 3.8 solar masses and is an extremely fast spinner, with a rotational velocity of 347 km/s. The Jupiter-Mars group: Regulus, Acturus, Altair, Antares If you have a Jupiter-Mars Star prominent on an angle, like your Ascendant or Midheaven, this gives you honour and skills with strategy. The first is a K2V star, while the second is about M4V. The Greeks associated Leo with the Nemean lion, the beast defeated by Heracles during the first of his twelve labours. The stars Altair and Achernar are also fast spinners with flattened, oblate shapes. It has an apparent magnitude of 10.25 and is approximately 35 million light years distant. They are dimmer main sequence stars with an apparent magnitude of 8.14 and 13.5. He began his 1st comet hunting program in 1975 and found his 1st comet in 1978, after 1700 hours of searching. The two stars complete an orbit around their common centre of mass every 40 days or so. Regulus is not a binary star for once, although there is a binary nearby, and possibly a white dwarf. Among the odd effects on the star: Regulus is much hotter at its poles (27,212 F, or 15,100 C) than its equator (18,032 F or 10,000 C). (CC BY 4.0). NGC 3357 is an elliptical galaxy in Leo. Regulus is a bright star seen in the constellation Leo. Leo's brightest star, Regulus, was often called the "Red Flame" and was thought to contribute to the heat of summer. The stars name, Regulus, means little king or prince in Latin. It is a double star divisible in binoculars, with a secondary of magnitude 7.7. The four stars with their modern names, and their ancient Persian names (in brackets) were: The four dominant stars have an apparent magnitude1.5 or brighter. In medieval astrology, Regulus was one of the 15 Behenian fixed stars, believed to hold special astrological power. The star is an exceptionally fast rotator, with a rotation period of only 15.9 hours. So Regulus is visible at some time of night throughout the year, except for about a month on either side of August 22. Zosma is a white main sequence star of the spectral type A4 V, approximately 58.4 light years from Earth. Regulus A is 3.8 times the mass of our sun, about three times as wide, and almost 288 times as bright. It is the nearest group containing both bright spirals and a bright elliptical galaxy (Messier 105). Venus last occulted Regulus on July 7, 1959. Lambda Leonis is a K5-class star, about 336 light years from the Sun. Search reviews. Toucan). Indeed, the lowest mass white dwarfs are usually found in binary systems where they lost a significant fraction of their mass.". Regulus is actually a quadruple-star system composed of four stars that are organized into two pairs. The companion is believed to be a white dwarf. The stars traditional name, Alterf, comes from the Arabic a-arf, which means the view (of the lion).. It has the Bayer designation designated Leonis, which is Latinized to Alpha Leonis, and abbreviated Alpha Leo or Leo. In other words, they are the brightest stars in the sky. Messier 96 is a very asymmetric galaxy; its dust and gas is unevenly spread throughout its weak spiral arms, and its core is not exactly at the galactic centre. In the Leo I group, Messier 95 is outshone by its brother Messier 96. This system is known as an active galactic nucleus. It has 214% of the solar radius and is about 15 times more luminous than the Sun. Archaeological evidence suggests that Mesopotamians had a constellation similar to Leo as early as 4000 BC. And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: community@space.com. The second brightest star is Denebola, an A-type main-sequence star-forming the tail of the lion. The stars traditional naames, Ras Elased (Australis), Asad Australis and Algenubi, are derived from the Arabic phrase rs al-asad al-janb, which means the southern star of the lions head., Epsilon Leonis is 288 times more luminous than the Sun, four times as massive, and it has 21 times the solar radius. Each of the 15 stars was associated with a planet, a plant, and a gemstone, and the latter two were used in rituals to bring out the stars influence. Theta Leonis is another white main sequence star. She was contributing writer for Space.com (opens in new tab) for 10 years before joining full-time, freelancing since 2012. Copernicus called it the Little King, after the Greek Basiliokos. It exhibits an excess emission of infrared, which indicates the presence of a circumstellar disk of dust. In medieval astrology, Regulus was one of the 15 Behenian fixed stars, believed to hold special astrological power. The stars proximity to the ecliptic (the apparent path of the Sun across the sky) means that Regulus is frequently occulted by the Moon. The Persians knew the star as Miyan, the Centre and as Venant, the guardian of the north. The Planets, https://theplanets.org/stars/regulus-star/. The primary component was once the smaller of the two stars. This occurs in spates every 9.3 years, due to lunar precession. A daily update by email. In 2016, the International Astronomical Union organized a Working Group on Star Names (WGSN)[21] to catalog and standardize proper names for stars. Map. Regulus is the only 1st magnitude star to sit almost squarely on the ecliptic, which marks the path of the sun, moon and planets across our sky. The star has an optical companion, 35 Leonis, which has an apparent magnitude of 5.90. Located in the southern hemisphere, Centaurus is named for the half man half horse creatures of Greek mythology. [citation needed] and are the brightest stars in their constellations and among the 25brightest stars in the night sky. Messier 65 is an intermediate spiral galaxy in Leo. Algieba is composed of a giant star with the spectral classification K1-IIIbCN0.5 and a dimmer companion star which belongs to the spectral class G7IIICN-I. As a result, it has an oblate shape. In Greek mythology, Leo is associated with the tale of the Nemean Lion from the myth of Heracles and his twelve labours. Photo taken Oct. 1, 2013. source of its extremely rapid spin and strange motion, Encyclopedia of Astronomy and Astrophysics, would only need to rotate about 10 percent faster to tear itself to pieces, Star Trek's bad captains: Celebrating Starfleet's less-than-perfect commanding officers, Best free Star Trek: TNG & Picard 3D prints. Look through a small telescope using at least 50x magnification, and you can see Regulus as two objects separated by 177 arcseconds. Regulus is the star at the bottom. Regulus, along with five slightly dimmer stars (Zeta Leonis, Mu Leonis, Gamma Leonis, Epsilon Leonis, and Eta Leonis) have collectively been called 'the Sickle', which is an asterism that marks the head of Leo. (Regulus axis is tilted 86 degrees.). The Arabic name for the star is Qalb al-Asad, which means the heart of the lion.. This is interesting because Avatar also stars Zoe Saldana, a sirian starseed as the main character. However, it would have taken at least a billion years for the white dwarf to form. Before it became a white dwarf, the companion is believed to have transferred a lot of its mass onto the other star through gravitational interaction, speeding up the primary components rotation rate to what it is now. Regulus is the brightest object in the constellation Leo and one of the brightest stars in the night sky. In fact, if Regulus rotated just a bit faster, it would fly apart! Similar to the way the Big Dipper can serve as a pointer to Polaris, two stars on the left-hand side of the Dipper's bowl can serve as pointers to Regulus in the opposite direction of the sky. The star Regulus is known by many different names in different cultures. It has a visual magnitude of 2.98 and is the fifth brightest star in the constellation Leo. With an effective temperature of 4,885 K, it is half as luminous as the Sun. [2] The stars were believed to hold both good and evil power and the Persians looked upon them for guidance in scientific calculations of the sky, such as the calendar and lunar/solar cycles, and for predictions. Regulus in persian mythology was the Guardian of the north and it's Angelic counterpart being Archangel Michael. The star is suspected to be a member of the Ursa Major Moving Group, a group of stars that includes most of the brightest stars in Ursa Major that share a common origin and motion through space. A planet was discovered in the orbit of the primary star in November 2009. While most of the bright stars of this constellation have been named in Arabic, the Latin name Regulusmeaning 'prince' or 'little king'turns out to be an exception. Leo constellation is home to the bright stars Regulus and Denebola, the nearby star Wolf 359, and to a number of famous deep sky objects, among them galaxies Messier 65, Messier 66, Messier 95, Messier 96, Messier 105, and NGC 3628. 3.33), Eta Leonis (mag. It has a nominal luminosity of 11,300 times that of the Sun, but this varies over the course of the pulsation cycle, from 6,250 to 15,800 times the Suns luminosity. [5] From this observation individuals began to denote them the royal stars. Regulus star is also known as Basiliskos, Cor Leonis (Lions Heart), Qalb al-Asad and Rex. It was the Polish astronomer and mathematician Nicolaus Copernicus who translated these names into Latin as Regulus. Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, It was discovered by the German astronomer Albert Marth on April 5, 1864. James Cameron, creator and director of [c]Avatar, has his sun in Magha conj regulus. Regulus D is a 12th magnitude star located at a separation of 212 arcseconds. It has a visual magnitude of 3.856 and is approximately 5,000 light years distant. Regulus B has the stellar classification K2 V, indicating an orange main sequence star, while Regulus C appears red and has been given the spectral class M4 V. The stars are much less massive than the primary, with masses of 0.8 and 0.3 solar masses respectively. It looks like a single point of light, but is really four stars. Native Americans have two general Ursa Major myths. Find movie showtimes and movie theaters near 85340 or Litchfield Park, AZ. The discrepancy can be accounted for by a history of mass transfer onto a once-smaller Regulus A. "There's nothing that we know of that can speed this star up," said Georgia State University astronomer Hal McAlister, who led the study of the star at the university's Center for High Angular Resolution (CHARA), in an interview at the time. Look towards Regulus around that date and youll see the sun. [28] Regulus was occulted by the asteroid 163 Erigone in the early morning of March 20, 2014. Zosma, Delta Leonis, is another rapid rotator in Leo, with a projected rotational velocity of 180 km/s. Regulus is only slightly fainter than Deneb in the constellation Cygnus and Mimosa in Crux, and it just outshines Adhara in Canis Major, Castor in Gemini, and Shaula in Scorpius. The Sickle is outlined by the stars Epsilon Leonis, Rasalas (Mu Leonis), Adhafera (Zeta Leonis), Algieba (Gamma Leonis), and Eta Leonis. [16] The companion pair has an orbital period of about 600 years[5] with a separation of 2.5" in 1942.[16]. Image created using the Aladin Sky Atlas software from the Strasbourg Astronomical Data Center and DSS (Digitized Sky Survey) data. It has an apparent magnitude of 4.044 and is approximately 210 light years distant. Regulus B is visible in binoculars, while Regulus C can only be resolved in a larger telescope. Regulus is 0.465 degrees from the ecliptic,[25] the closest of the bright stars, and is often occulted by the Moon. Regulus, the brightest star in the constellation Leo, the lion, is a harbinger of spring in the Northern Hemisphere. The stars in the galaxys central region are very old. [32], For Earth observers, the heliacal rising (pre-sunrise appearance) of Regulus occurs late in the first week of September, or in the second week. Each of the 15 stars was associated with a planet, a plant, and a gemstone, and the latter two were used in rituals to bring out the star's influence. Easily recognizable for the Sickle asterism that outlines the Lions mane and shoulders, Leo is known for its bright stars mainly Regulus and Denebola and a number of bright deep sky objects. An occultation of Regulus by the asteroid 166 Rhodope was filmed in Italy on October 19, 2005. Regulus C has an estimated surface temperature of 3,242 K. The Regulus BC pair is separated by 177 seconds of arc, or about 5,000 astronomical units, from Regulus A and can be seen in small telescopes. Consequently, its apparent magnitude varies too, ranging from 1.19 to 10.96. Start your review of Academic Urology & Urogynecology. Astronomers had a detailed look at Regulus' motion in a study published in 2005, showing that the star would only need to rotate about 10 percent faster to tear itself to pieces. The light of the star took 9.34 billion years to reach Earth. They added, however, that they couldn't see anything in the system that would cause it to move faster. Regulus can also sometimes be occulted by asteroids. Beta Leonis, called Denebola, is at the opposite end of the constellation to Regulus. Cor Caroli is another name for Regulus. The star Regulus is known by many different names in different cultures. With a surface temperature of 11,668 K, it shines with 316.2 solar luminosities. They were also believed to govern events in the world. These limelight-hogging celestial objects combine whirling, pinwheeling arms with scatterings of sparkling stars, glowing bursts of gas, and dark, weaving lanes of cosmic dust, creating truly awesome scenes especially when viewed through a telescope such as the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. . Inferno Escape Room. It can be seen in the night sky throughout the year except for a month on either side of August 22, when the Sun comes too close to the star. Source. The Persians might have thought otherwise if they knew what astronomers know now: it rotates extremely fast, and doesnt need to go a whole lot faster to tear itself to pieces, and like Uranus its axis is tilted, so that the poles are roughly where the equator should be. Regulus, designated as Alpha Leonis, is the brightest star in Leo, and the 21 st brightest star in the night sky, having an apparent magnitude of 1.40. It has an apparent magnitude of 13.54 and is only 7.78 light years distant. The binary pair (two dwarfs, orange and red) are about 4,200 Earth-sun distances (astronomical units, or AU) away from Regulus and take about 130,000 years to complete one orbit, Darling said. Draco) or exist in the real world (e.g. This means that it completes a rotation every 15.9 hours and, as a result, its shape has been distorted into an oblate spheroid, with the equatorial diameter 32 percent larger than the polar diameter. The star belongs to the IC 2391 supercluster, a stellar association whose member stars share a common motion through space, but are not gravitationally bound. Heracles is represented by the larger constellation Hercules. For example, in 1959, Regulus was occulted by Venus. 3.486), Subra (Omicron Leo, mag. Most of the stars in the galaxy are old. Its surface temperature averages about 12,460 Kelvin (21,970 degrees F or 12,190 degrees C), which is much higher than our suns surface temperature. Astronomers from Babylon knew the star as Sharru (the King) and in Persia, Regulus was one of the four Royal Stars, along with Aldebaran in Taurus, Antares in Scorpius and Fomalhaut in Piscis Austrinus. Its arms are also asymmetrical, thought to have been influenced by the gravitational pull of other galaxies within the same group as Messier 96. Rgulus is Latin for 'prince' or 'little king';[36] its Greek equivalent (Latinised) is Basiliscus. Differential bending of light was measured to be consistent with general relativity. It is the 22nd brightest star, although the 21st, Alpha Centauri, is not much brighter than it is. The star was listed as one of four "royal stars," first under the name Venant and then Miyan ("the center", according to the Encyclopedia of Astronomy and Astrophysics.). The three-letter abbreviation, adopted by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) in 1922, is Leo. The main star in Leo, Regulus, was associated with kings. Alpha Leonis system, image credit: Pablo Carlos Budassi (CC BY-SA 4.0). They eventually expel their outer envelopes to form planetary nebulae and become white dwarfs within a few million years. 1 star. The name Denebola comes from the Arabic anab al-asad, which means the lions tail.. Source: wigwamgolf. In Persian astronomy, the sky was divided into four districts and each district was guarded by one of the four bright stars.

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