Star profile

40 Leonis

3D likeness based on its real data · class F · ~6,500 K

What is 40 Leonis

40 Leonis is, in cosmic terms, surprisingly close: only 69.7 light-years away. A yellow-white star of the Delta Scuti family, it is slightly hotter and nearly five times more luminous than the Sun, and pulses on hours-long periods just below visibility. A common-proper-motion companion drifts beside it more than five thousand arcseconds away; together they have shared the same journey through the Galaxy for over two billion years.

Where it is and when to see it

40 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 58° above the horizon.
From New York it culminates about 69° above the horizon.
From Sydney it culminates about 37° above the horizon.

It can be seen from anywhere north of 71° S.

It ranks no. 27 in brightness among the 80 stars of Leo in our catalogue. To find it, start from Regulus, the brightest: it lies about 8° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).

The light you see today left it about 70 years ago.

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Astronomical data for 40 Leonis

Constellation: Leo
Apparent magnitude: 4.78
Distance: 69.7 light years
Coordinates (J2000): RA 154.934° · Dec 19.471°
Catalogue: HIP 50564 · HD 89449

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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