dipper@utastro.UUCP (Debbie Byrd) (01/27/86)
The bright star near the moon tonight is Regulus. More about the lion's heart -- after this. January 27 Regulus and the Moon Rising in the east this time of year is Regulus in the constellation Leo. You can easily see Regulus tonight because it's the brightest star near the moon. This star lies 85 light-years away. It's five times bigger and 160 times more luminous than our sun. The name Regulus means "Little King." Regulus is also known as Cor Leonis -- the lion's heart. Many civilizations that saw a lion in Leo called Regulus by similar names -- all alluding to the ruling power of a lion. The rest of the constellation Leo does look something like a lion. The stars outlining the lion's head are sometimes called "The Sickle." The Sickle in Leo is shaped like a backwards question mark -- with Regulus sparkling at the bottom tip of the question mark. Of the several thousand stars visible to the naked eye, Regulus is the twenty-first brightest. It's a five-solar-mass star -- meaning that its mass is five times greater than that of our sun. The more massive the star, the hotter its core. The life span of Regulus will be much shorter than our sun's because its hotter core burns more quickly. Stars the size of Regulus usually die in spectacular supernova explosions. Regulus lies about one-half of a degree from the ecliptic -- the apparent path of our sun across the sky. Due to this position, the moon occasionally passes in front of Regulus, occulting it from our point of view. But tonight you can see the lion's heart burning beside the moon, as both move together across the sky. Script by Holly Clark. (c) Copyright 1985, 1986 McDonald Observatory, University of Texas at Austin