Star profile

Pi Leonis

Cool red star

3D likeness based on its real data · class M · ~3,200 K

What is Pi Leonis

Pi Leonis glows 406 light-years away as a red M-type giant —one of the few markedly cool stars visible to the naked eye in Leo. Its reddish tone, perceptible under a clean sky, betrays a vast atmosphere laden with titanium oxides; if we could resolve its disc, it would dwarf the Sun many times over. Its slow light takes more than four centuries to reach us.

Where it is and when to see it

Pi Leonis lies in the northern celestial hemisphere. It is visible to the naked eye under a dark sky. Its best month of the year is February, when it culminates around midnight.

From London it culminates about 47° above the horizon.
From New York it culminates about 57° above the horizon.
From Sydney it culminates about 48° above the horizon.

It can be seen from anywhere north of 82° S.

It ranks no. 24 in brightness among the 80 stars of Leo in our catalogue. To find it, start from Regulus, the brightest: it lies about 4° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).

The light you see today left it about 410 years ago.

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Astronomical data for Pi Leonis

Constellation: Leo
Apparent magnitude: 4.68
Distance: 406.2 light years
Coordinates (J2000): RA 150.053° · Dec 8.044°
Catalogue: HIP 49029 · HD 86663

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Other stars in Leo

Leo has 80 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.

See all 80 stars in Leo