Hevelius Introduced Leo Minor the Lesser Leo Constellation in 1687

Summary: Hevelius introduced Leo Minor the Lesser Leo constellation in 1687 as a similarly natured animal between Ursa Major and Leo the Lion constellations.

(center) Leo Minor the Lesser Lion's open mouth seemingly hovers over Lynx's tail; J. Hevelii, Firmamentum Sobiescianum (MDCXC [1690]), Fig. Z: Public Domain, via ETH-Bibliothek e-rara

Seventeenth-century Polish astronomer Johannes Hevelius introduced Leo Minor the Lesser Leo constellation in 1687 as a similarly natured animal discerned in 18 stars between Ursa Major the Great Bear and Leo the Lion constellations.

Johannes Hevelius (Polish: Jan Heweliusz; Jan. 28, 1611-Jan. 28, 1687) presented Leo Minor the Lesser Leo constellation as one of 10 constellations that he had formed in Prodromus Astronomiae. The three-volume compendium contained the Prodromus; a star catalogue, Catalogus Stellarum Fixarum; and a star atlas, Firmamentum Sobiescianum sive Uranographia. Although the catalogue and star atlas had been printed in 1687, Hevelius's death left them unpublished and the Prodromus Astronomiae unfinished. The astronomer-selenographer's wife, Polish astronomer Elisabeth Catherina Koopmann Hevelius (Polish: Elżbieta Koopman Heweliusz; Jan. 17, 1647–Dec. 22, 1693), completed the Prodromus and honored her husband, without crediting herself, with posthumous publication of all three volumes in 1690.

Hevelius listed Leo Minor as the third of his 10 newly visualized constellations in Chapter VIII, De Numero Aſteriſmorum & Stellarum, tum nonnullis Rebus animadverſione dignis, of section Tabulae Solares Novae ("New Solar Tables") in the Prodromus. He created the feline constellation from 18 stars that he discerned as nine "unformed" and nine "new," between constellations Ursa Major and Leo. Consistent with the new constellation's "ferocious" neighbors, Hevelius imagined a similarly natured animal, a smaller lion, as intermediary between the ursine and leonine constellations.

"Cur Leo minor eo in loco repoſitus fuerit. Tertiò, ex Stellis illis partim 9 informibus, & partim 9 novis à me obſervatis, inter Urſam Majorem ac Leonoem Majorem obviis, Minorem & Juniorem conſtruxi Leonem; ne Aſtrologorum praeſertim circulos, conceptus, ſive Regulas nimiùm turbarem (quippe Urſam & Leonoem pro AEſtuoſisſimis, & ferocisſimis animalibus habent) volui ejusdem naturae quoddam animal ibidem collocare, ut pariter Stellae iſtae inter Urſam & Leonem ſitae, ejusdem etiam naturam Urſae & Leonis jure retinere poſſent," Hevelius explained (page 114).

Hevelius depicted his Leo Minor constellation in Tavola Z in Firmamentum Sobiescianum, the third volume of Prodromus Astronomiae. As with all of Hevelius's constellations, the figure is reversed, depicted "back to front," as if on a celestial globe, as noted by English constellation history biographer Ian Ridpath (born May 1, 1947) in posts on "Hevelius and Firmamentum Sobiescianum" and "Hevelius’s depiction of Leo Minor" on his Star Tales website. A depiction based upon the perspective of an outsider looking into a celestial globe creates a mirror image of, i.e., reverses, the actual appearance of the sky as seen by an Earth-based observer positioned as an insider looking outward at a celestial globe.

Ursa Major the Great Bear (center) poses in walking posture as northern neighbor above Leo Minor the Lesser Lion (bottom center); depiction from perspective of outsider looking into celestial globe reverses actual appearance of sky for Earth-based observer as insider looking outward at celestial globe; J. Hevelii, Firmamentum Sobiescianum (MDCXC [1690]), Fig. D: Public Domain, via ETH-Bibliothek e-rara

Four neighbors surround Hevelius's Leo Minor constellation. Leo Minor is seated, with back limbs curved and his head held upright above outstretched front limbs. To the north, the front and back paws of Ursa Major the Great Bear gently tread over Leo Minor's head and back, respectively. To the west, Lynx's tail winds along Leo Minor's head and ends near the lesser lion's front paws. Leo Minor stretches above the head and back of his southern neighbor, Leo the Lion. Corner contact with Leo Minor's southwestern neighbor, Cancer the Crab, entails a tri-constellatory nearness of a cancrine pincer, the tip of Lynx's tail and Leo Minor's front paws.

Constellation Leo Minor covers an area of 232.0 square degrees, which accounts for 0.562 percent of the area of the night sky, according to English astronomy writer Ian Ridpath (born May 1, 1947) in his table of constellations on his eponymous website (ianridpath.com). Leo Minor's area places it as the 64th largest of the 88 constellations recognized by the International Astronomical Union (IAU).

Right ascension (abbreviated RA; symbol α) coordinates for Leo Minor extend from 09 hours (h) 22 minutes (m) 35.0364 seconds (s) to 11h 06m 51.4141s, according to the constellation boundary tables on the International Astronomical Union's website. The equatorial coordinate system's right ascension compares with terrestrial longitude.

Declination (abbreviated dec; symbol δ) coordinates for Leo Minor stretch from plus 22.8376045 to plus 41.4316750. In the equatorial coordinate system, declination equates to geographic latitude.

Earth-based observers positioned between latitudes 90 degrees north and 48 degrees south experience full visibility of constellation Leo Minor. Stargazers located between latitudes 48 degrees south and 67 degrees south experience partial visibility of the faint, small constellation (Ridpath, Constellations -- 2).

Especially under unideal seeing conditions, Leo Minor's faintness contributes to incomplete detection of the small constellation's shape as a tailed triangle of its three brightest stars (46 Leonis Minoris. abbreviated 46 LMi; β Leonis Minoris, Latinized Beta Leonis Minoris; 21 Leonis Minoris, abbreviated 21 LMi). The constellation shapes as a diamond with a tail, according to its chart on the International Astronomical Union's website, and as a stingray with a tail pointing toward constellation Lynx, according to James Miller in "Star Constellation Facts: Leo Minor," posted July 15, 2016, to his website, Astronomy Trek.

Spring and winter favor Northern Hemisphere observers with Leo Minor sightings, according to Miller. Northern and Southern hemisphere stargazers share April as the month of best visibility of Leo Minor, according to science writer Kelly Kizer Whitt in "Meet Leo Minor the Little Lion," published April 1, 2022, on the EarthSky website.

Leo Minor constellation (top left), with neighbors Lynx the Lynx, Ursa Major the Great Bear, Leo the Lion and Cancer the Crab in the Sobieskian firmament's northern hemisphere (Hemisphaerium Firmamenti Sobiesciani Boreale); J. Hevelii, Prodromus Astronomiae Cum Catalogo Fixarum, & Firmamentum Sobiescianum (MDCXC [1690]), opposite page 22: Public Domain, via ETH-Bibliothek e-rara

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

(center) Leo Minor the Lesser Lion's open mouth seemingly hovers over constellation Lynx's tail; depiction from perspective of outsider looking into celestial globe reverses actual appearance of sky for Earth-based observer as insider looking outward at celestial globe; J. Hevelii, Firmamentum Sobiescianum (MDCXC [1690]), Fig. Z: Public Domain, via ETH-Bibliothek e-rara @ https://www.e-rara.ch/zut/content/zoom/133927

Ursa Major the Great Bear (center) poses in walking posture as northern neighbor above Leo Minor the Lesser Lion (bottom center); depiction from perspective of outsider looking into celestial globe reverses actual appearance of sky for Earth-based observer as insider looking outward at celestial globe; J. Hevelii, Firmamentum Sobiescianum (MDCXC [1690]), Fig. D: Public Domain, via ETH-Bibliothek e-rara @ https://www.e-rara.ch/zut/content/zoom/133887

Leo Minor constellation (top left), with neighbors Lynx the Lynx, Ursa Major the Great Bear, Leo the Lion and Cancer the Crab in the Sobieskian firmament's northern hemisphere (Hemisphaerium Firmamenti Sobiesciani Boreale); J. Hevelii, Prodromus Astronomiae Cum Catalogo Fixarum, & Firmamentum Sobiescianum (MDCXC [1690]), opposite page 22: Public Domain, via ETH-Bibliothek e-rara @ https://www.e-rara.ch/zut/content/zoom/133876

For further information:

Hevelii, Johannis. "Cur Leo minor eo in loco repoſitus fuerit. Tertiò, ex Stellis illis partim 9 informibus, & partim 9 novis à me obſervatis, inter Urſam Majorem ac Leonoem Majorem obviis, Minorem & Juniorem conſtruxi Leonem; ne Aſtrologorum praeſertim circulos, conceptus, ſive Regulas nimiùm turbarem (quippe Urſam & Leonoem pro AEſtuoſisſimis, & ferocisſimis animalibus habent) volui ejusdem naturae quoddam animal ibidem collocare, ut pariter Stellae iſtae inter Urſam & Leonem ſitae, ejusdem etiam naturam Urſae & Leonis jure retinere poſſent." Page 114. Prodromus Astronomiae cum Catalogo Fixarum, & Firmamentum Sobiescianum: Prodromus Astronomiae . . . Quibus additus est uterq[ue] Catalogus Stellarum Fixarum, tam major ad Annum 1660, quàm minor ad Annum completum 1700. Acceſſ Corollarii loco Tabula Motus Lunae Libratorii, Ad bina ſecula proximè ventura prolongata, brevi cum Deſcriptione, ejus ue uſu. Tabulae Solares Novae, pages 51-142. Caput VIII De Numero Aſteriſmorum & Stellarum, tum nonnullis Rebus animadverſione dignis," pages 108-124. Gedani [Gdansk]: Typis Johannis-Zachariae Stollii, M DC XC [1690].
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