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Leo is one of the few constellations that actually looks a bit like its namesake - a Lion. The constellation Leo is south of Ursa Major. The two stars of the Big Dipper's scoop that are next to its handle actually point to Regulus which is Leo's brightest star. The star Regulus is at the base of a sickle that forms Leo's head. Regulus received its name from the great Polish astronomer Coprenicus. Leo triangular shaped tail ends with the bright star Denebola. The name "Denebola" like so many others is Arabic in origin and is a corruption of "Al-dhanab-al-Asad" which means the Lion's tail.
Leo is the first of the twelve constellations of the Zodiac on the SkyWatch Sky Tour. The Solar System is like an old-fashioned phonograph record. The Sun, the Moon and almost all the planets including the Earth are in the same plane and all these objects appear in the sky to be travelling along the same line through the sky. This line is called the ecliptic and the constellations that lay along the ecliptic are the constellations of the Zodiac. The Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn will always appear close to the ecliptic and within the constellations of the Zodiac.
Hydra