the small carnivor-- between two big ones!

Event Date: September 19th
Time: 6:00 AM


Brief

    For many months, I would show the Big Dipper marking the Big Bear [Ursa Major]'s lower body and stretched-out tail.  However, I failed to ever show the entire bear, including head, leg, feet and upper body outline.  The stars that make up this part of the constellation--being most of it--are in the 3rd magnitude range, being only easily bright without light pollution.  Most places where people view the Dipper, are closer to urban or suburban settings, with streetlights on or maybe some other obstruction.  From an area where there is no light, such as a campsite up in the mountains, the stars are much more visible, although the stars of the Dipper may already seem bright enough to still grab much more attention.
   Here is the Big Dipper seen on the left side of the image (north) getting higher in the sky each morning before, with a much more abstract, smaller constellation between it and Leo: Leo Minor, the little lion, has a stick figure made up of two 4th magnitude stars and one 5th magnitude one.  Is it any surprise that most people don't think much of this constellation?  Well, they should, for one big reason; more about that in the detailed section!

Detailed

  Each November, the Leonid Meteor Shower is visible, starting sometimes before midnight, yet peaking during the wee hours of the morning when the Lion's radiant is above the horizon.  The radiant of the namesake constellation for most of the meteor showers is normally within a constellation's boundaries, yet sometimes near the boundary of it and another.  If you remember the Perseids in August, we started seeing the radiant a little early before Perseus was high enough above the horizon; it was closer to Casseopeia.  As for the Leonids, which are a result of our Earth passing through debris of the comet Tempel-Tuttle, the radiant is a little closer to the more recognizable stars of Leo. Some years, the shower is better than others and of course, hope for a Moon that is less than half full to avoid that type of light pollution.
   Now, what does this have to do with Leo Minor??  Simple.  The little lion's figure is close enough to the radiant, that if you try to view this small constellation through binoculars (try a wide field of 10º), there will be several meteors passing in front of it!  As we see the meteor shower when the Lions are the altitude shown, those looking as if they are moving to the upper left (northwest) of the radiant, are passing by--or through-- Leo Minor.  It is almost as if the Big Lion is being a bully and pelting his "cub" with small, fire-glowing "rocks"!
   Use this second image below to magnify on the dim Leo Minor, with its few bright-enough stars to create a stick-figure, and others still barely visible before being washed out from the Sun; they are about as bright as those that make up the stick figure.

click on images to enlarge: courtesy of Starry Night Pro Plus, version 6.4.3, by Simulation Curriculum Corp.