Lepus

Abbreviation: Lep
Genitive: Leopris
Right Ascension: 5.58 hours
Declination: -19.32 degrees

Lepus,the Hare, is visible in the Northern Hemisphere in winter.

Lepus, the Hare is located just below Orion and west of Cannis (Major and Minor). The mythology of Lepus has been lost, but it was known to the Greeks, it is commonly believed to be the prey of Orion. This begs the question why such a formidible hunter would bother with a rabbit? Lepus sets as Corvus is rising and this could be of some significance. Ancient coins of the Chinese and Greeks, cylinders from Egypt and agate seals from Syria show an eagle battling a hare. The would however, point more to a significance with Aquila.

One of the more significant stars in Lepus was discovered in 1845 by J.R. Hind called the Hind's Crimson Star, which he described as a drop of blood on a black field. The star is a variable, ranging from 6 to 8.5 magnitudes, placing within range of modest telescopes and binoculars.

Bright Stars | Deep Sky | Other Deep Sky | Variable Stars | Double Stars

Best Known Stars

(Yale Bright Star Catalog)

Common Name or Bayer Number 1	RA	DEC	Magnitude 2
ARNEB	5.00:32.00:43.80	-17.00:49.00:20.26	2.58
NIHAL	5.00:28.00:14.72	-20.00:45.00:34.09	2.84
EPS LEP	5.00:5.00:27.66	-22.00:22.00:15.80	3.19
MU LEP	5.00:12.00:55.88	-16.00:12.00:19.97	3.31
ZET LEP	5.00:46.00:57.33	-14.00:49.00:19.12	3.55
GAM LEP	5.00:44.00:27.78	-22.00:26.00:54.31	3.60
ETA LEP	5.00:56.00:24.28	-14.00:10.00:3.87	3.71
DEL LEP	5.00:51.00:19.28	-20.00:52.00:44.89	3.81
LAM LEP	5.00:19.00:34.51	-13.00:10.00:36.47	4.29

Deep Sky Objects

(PAS Catalog)

M-79

M79 is a beautiful globular cluster at a quite unusual location in the sky: Most globulars are grouped around the Galactic center, but this is one of the few which are situated in the other hemisphere, i.e. it is beyond us for hypothetical observers in the central stellar bulge of our Milky Way galaxy. It is little over 40,000 light years from us, but about 60,000 light years from the galactic center.

Other Deep Sky Objects

(Saguaro Astronomy Club Catalog)

Only Objects less than 10.0 Mag.

Object	R.A.	Dec.	Object Type 3	Mag.	Uranometria	Tirion
NGC 1904	05 24.5	-24 33	GLOCL	08.4	315	19

Variable Stars

(General Catalog of Variable Stars)

Only Objects <= 8.0 magnitude

GCVS ID	R.A. (hh mm ss.ss)	Dec. (deg mm ss)	Variable Type 4	Mag. Min	Mag. Max
S Lep	6.00:3.00:41.90	-24.00:11.00:23.00	SRB	7.58	6.00
RX Lep	5.00:9.00:2.70	-11.00:54.00:36.00	SRB	7.40	5.00
SS Lep	6.00:2.00:45.20	-16.00:28.00:47.00	ZAND	5.06	4.82
SZ Lep	5.00:33.00:46.00	-25.00:46.00:9.00	LB:	7.93	7.40
TU Lep	5.00:4.00:5.40	-14.00:45.00:45.00	ACV	0.10	7.07
TW Lep	5.00:38.00:30.50	-20.00:19.00:24.00	RS:	0.32	7.00
TX Lep	5.00:17.00:6.60	-18.00:33.00:37.00	ACV	0.04	6.54
UU Lep	5.00:12.00:28.90	-26.00:15.00:50.00	RS	7.02	6.91
UV Lep	6.00:9.00:6.90	-15.00:46.00:49.00	ACVO	0.01	6.77
mu Lep	5.00:10.00:41.00	-16.00:15.00:48.00	ACV	3.41	2.97

Double Stars

(Saguaro Astronomy Club Catalog)

Only Objects <= 8.0 magnitude

Name	R.A. (hh mm.m)	Dec. (deg mm)	Mag 5	Sep 6	PA 7	Tirion	Uranometria
STF 661	05 13.2	-12 56	4.5, 7.4	2.30	357	11	270
S 476	05 19.3	-18 30	6.2, 6.4	39.30	18	11	270/ 315
HJ 3752	05 21.8	-24 46	5.5, 6.7	3.50	94	19	315
BU 320	05 28.3	-20 45	3.0, 7.5	2.30	346	11	315
H 40	05 44.5	-22 26	3.8, 6.4	96.70	350	19	316