the little lion · pronounced LEE-oh MY-nor. Leo Minor is a faint northern constellation placed by Johannes Hevelius between Ursa Major and Leo. It has no Alpha star: its brightest member is 46 Leonis Minoris, traditionally called Praecipua, while Beta Leonis Minoris is the only star Bayer labelled with a Greek letter. The pattern is difficult under city light, but the region contains the nearby face-on spiral NGC 3344 and several edge-on galaxies for telescope observers.
About Leo Minor
Leo Minor is one of the 88 constellations recognized by the International Astronomical Union. Its standard three-letter abbreviation is LMi, and astronomers use the genitive form Leonis Minoris when naming stars associated with it. The constellation's reference position lies around right ascension 10.5 hours and declination +30 degrees.
Its location places it in the northern sky. For a typical mid-latitude observer, this part of the celestial sphere is especially well placed during winter evenings. Exact visibility depends on latitude, local horizon, date and time.
History and mythology of Leo Minor
A seventeenth-century little lion
Hevelius introduced Leo Minor in 1687 to organize an underfilled area between the ancient Great Bear and Lion. There is no classical myth uniquely attached to it.
Why there is no Alpha Leonis Minoris
Francis Baily assigned Greek letters in the nineteenth century but labelled only Beta. The brighter 46 LMi retained its Flamsteed number and later received the proper name Praecipua, making the missing Alpha a memorable catalogue accident.
A faint pattern, a useful galaxy window
Leo Minor lies away from the Milky Way’s dense plane. Its dark extragalactic field is visually inconspicuous yet provides relatively unobscured views toward galaxies beyond our own.
The modern astronomical region
The IAU adopted the three-letter abbreviation and standard constellation name in 1922. Eugène Delporte then published the coordinate boundaries in 1930, turning the inherited figure into an exact address for cataloguing every object inside it.
How to find Leo Minor
- Use the Big Dipper’s bowl and Leo’s Sickle as bright boundaries; Leo Minor fills the broad triangular gap between them.
- Locate Praecipua at magnitude 3.8, then find Beta LMi to its southeast. The remaining outline needs binoculars in suburban skies.
- March through May evenings are most convenient at northern mid-latitudes, when the region crosses high in the south.
- To find NGC 3344, begin near Zeta Leonis south of Leo Minor and follow a detailed telescope chart northward; low surface brightness demands a dark sky.
Bright stars in Leo Minor
Praecipua (46 Leonis Minoris)
Notable star- Magnitude
- 3.83
- Distance
- about 95 light-years
An orange giant and the constellation’s brightest star; its modern proper name means “the chief one.”
Beta Leonis Minoris
Notable star- Magnitude
- 4.21
- Distance
- about 155 light-years
A close visual binary consisting of a yellow-orange giant and a fainter yellow-white companion.
21 Leonis Minoris
Notable star- Magnitude
- 4.49
- Distance
- about 92 light-years
A rapidly rotating white main-sequence star used as one of the easier binocular points in the faint outline.
R Leonis Minoris
Notable star- Magnitude
- about 6.3–13.2 variable
- Distance
- roughly 1,000 light-years
A long-period Mira variable that can enter binocular range near maximum and then fade dramatically.
Deep-sky objects in Leo Minor
NGC 3344
A nearly face-on spiral about 20 million light-years away, with a compact bar and delicate outer arms visible in deep images.
NGC 3432
A disturbed, elongated galaxy interacting with dwarf companion UGC 5983; visual observers often call it the Knitting Needle Galaxy.
NGC 3003
A thin spiral seen at a steep inclination. It is fainter than NGC 3344 and best attempted with moderate aperture under transparent skies.
Interesting facts about Leo Minor
- Leo Minor's name means the little lion. Hevelius introduced Leo Minor in 1687 to organize an underfilled area between the ancient Great Bear and Lion.
- Praecipua (46 Leonis Minoris) is listed at magnitude 3.83. An orange giant and the constellation’s brightest star; its modern proper name means “the chief one.”
- NGC 3344 is a barred spiral galaxy. A nearly face-on spiral about 20 million light-years away, with a compact bar and delicate outer arms visible in deep images.
- Francis Baily assigned Greek letters in the nineteenth century but labelled only Beta.