Star profile

72 Leonis

Cool red star

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

What is 72 Leonis

72 Leonis is a chilly rarity: an M-type giant nearly 960 light-years out, glowing deep red within the Lion's back. Stars like this are late embers, suns swollen to hundreds of times our own diameter and cooled at the surface. Its light departed around the year 1066 and is still en route, a reminder that a warm colour can hide a temperature that is, in stellar terms, glacial.

Where it is and when to see it

72 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 March, when it culminates around midnight.

From London it culminates about 62° above the horizon.
From New York it culminates about 72° above the horizon.
From Sydney it culminates about 33° above the horizon.

It can be seen from anywhere north of 67° S.

It ranks no. 22 in brightness among the 80 stars of Leo in our catalogue. To find it, start from Regulus, the brightest: it lies about 19° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).

The light you see today left it about 960 years ago.

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Astronomical data for 72 Leonis

Constellation: Leo
Apparent magnitude: 4.56
Distance: 959.4 light years
Coordinates (J2000): RA 168.801° · Dec 23.096°
Catalogue: HIP 54951 · HD 97778

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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