Star profile

Sigma Leonis

Hot blue star

3D likeness based on its real data · class B · ~15,000 K

What is Sigma Leonis

Sigma Leonis burns quietly inside zodiacal Leo, in the region where the mythic lion arches its back just before the tail. It is a bluish B-type star, hot and young, whose surface comfortably exceeds ten thousand degrees against the Sun's five thousand six hundred. The light now caught by the human retina set out more than two centuries ago, as the first industrial revolutions were taking shape, and crosses the sky with the cool, clean tone characteristic of stars of its class.

Where it is and when to see it

Sigma 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 45° above the horizon.
From New York it culminates about 55° above the horizon.
From Sydney it culminates about 50° above the horizon.

It can be seen from anywhere north of 84° S.

It ranks no. 13 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 220 years ago.

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Astronomical data for Sigma Leonis

Constellation: Leo
Apparent magnitude: 4.05
Distance: 220.1 light years
Coordinates (J2000): RA 170.284° · Dec 6.029°
Catalogue: HIP 55434 · HD 98664

A symbolic commemorative gift: neither the signature nor the chosen name implies ownership of the star or recognition by the IAU.

Other stars in Leo

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

See all 80 stars in Leo