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Star profile

87 Leonis

3D likeness based on its real data · class K · ~4,200 K

What is 87 Leonis

87 Leonis lives in the mane of the celestial lion at more than six hundred light-years, an orange giant whose glow reaches us from a moment before the Great Plague of London. The light grazing the eye tonight departed before precision pendulum clocks existed. K-type, magnitude 4.77 — quiet, ancestral, profoundly distant.

Where it is and when to see it

87 Leonis lies in the southern 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 35° above the horizon.
  • From New York it culminates about 46° above the horizon.
  • From Sydney it culminates about 59° above the horizon.

It can be seen from anywhere south of 87° N.

It ranks no. 26 in brightness among the 80 stars of Leo in our catalogue. To find it, start from Regulus, the brightest: it lies about 25° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).

The light you see today left it about 600 years ago.

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Astronomical data for 87 Leonis

Constellation
Leo
Apparent magnitude
4.77
Distance
604.1 light years
Coordinates (J2000)
RA 172.579° · Dec -3.004°
Catalogue
HIP 56127 · HD 99998

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