Constellation Chart

The Little Leo

A minor constellation of Leo Minor is found out just north of Leo, synonymous with the constellations in spring skies. Only three stars with fourth magnitude form the Leo Minor, perhaps you cannot imagine the figure of small lion in this vacant celestial field. The constellation was established by Hevelius in 17th century, and has no major myths. It's considered that he invented the Leo Minor associated with the Leo, but actually these two constellations don't have any relations.

Galaxies In Leo Minor

NGC3344

The northern neighbor of Leo; the Leo Minor, a spiral galaxy of NGC3344 is lying about southern edge of this minor constellation. The galaxy has a diameter of about 7 arc minutes, and being face-on galaxy. You can see in this picture several arms coiled up somewhat denser, but maybe you cannot distinguish those structures, looks like a simple elliptic galaxy through a medium-sized telescope. The galaxy of NGC3344 has a visual brightness of about 10.7, one of largest galaxies contained in Leo Minor.

NGC 3486

NGC 3486 is spiral galaxy seen face on toward us. It's spiral structure is very evident in this image displaying many spiral arms. It lies at a distance of 30 million light years and is about 60,000 light years across or about half the size of our Milky Way.

NGC 3504

NGC 3504 is a rather unusual barred spiral galaxy in the constellation Leo Minor. The spiral arms wrap nearly completely around the galaxy forming a faint outer ring. The galaxy's nucleus shows characteristics of both massive star formation and a LINER-type Active Galactic Nucleus. The presence of HII regions along the bar suggests that some gas is still falling toward the nucleus. The galaxy is a member of a small group but shows no obvious sign of interaction. This galaxy and supernova 2001ac are roughly at a distance of 81 million light years. The diameter of NGC 3504 is 63,400 light years.

NGC 3432

At magnitude 12, NGC 3432 is viewed nearly edge on, making it dim, and difficult to see in a small scope.