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Leo Minor is a small and faint constellation in the northern celestial hemisphere. Its name is Latin for "the smaller lion", in contrast to Leo, the larger lion. It lies between the larger and more recognizable Ursa Major to the north and Leo to the south. Leo Minor was not regarded as a separate constellation by classical astronomers; it was designated by Johannes Hevelius in 1687. There are 37 stars brighter than apparent magnitude 6.5 in the constellation; three are brighter than magnitude 4.5. 46 Leonis Minoris, an orange giant of magnitude 3.8, is located some 95 light-years from Earth. At magnitude 4.4, Beta Leonis Minoris is the second brightest star and the only one in the constellation with a Bayer designation. It is a binary star, the brighter component of which is an orange giant and the fainter a yellow-white main sequence star. The third brightest star is 21 Leonis Minoris, a rapidly rotating white main-sequence star of average magnitude 4.5. The constellation also includes two stars with planetary systems, two pairs of interacting galaxies, and the unique deep-sky object Hanny's Voorwerp. ==History== The classical astronomers Aratus and Ptolemy had noted the region of what is now Leo Minor to be undefined and not containing any distinctive pattern; Ptolemy classified the stars in this area as ''amorphōtoi'' (not belonging to a constellation outline) within the constellation Leo. Johannes Hevelius first depicted Leo Minor in 1687 when he outlined ten new constellations in his star atlas ''Firmamentum Sobiescianum'', and included 18 of its objects in the accompanying ''Catalogus Stellarum Fixarum''. Hevelius decided upon Leo Minor or Leo Junior as a depiction that would align with its beastly neighbours the Lion and the Great Bear. In 1845, English astronomer Francis Baily revised the catalogue of Hevelius's new constellations, and assigned a Greek letter known as Bayer designation to stars brighter than apparent magnitude 4.5. Richard A. Proctor gave the constellation the name ''Leaena'' "the Lioness" in 1870, explaining that he sought to shorten the constellation names to make them more manageable on celestial charts. German astronomer Christian Ludwig Ideler posited that the stars of Leo Minor had been termed ''Al Thibā' wa-Aulāduhā'' "Gazelle with her Young" on a 13th-century Arabic celestial globe, recovered by Cardinal Stefano Borgia and housed in the prelate's museum at Velletri.〔See also Mark R. Chartrand III (1983) Skyguide: A Field Guide for Amateur Astronomers, p. 158 (ISBN 0-307-13667-1).〕 Arabist Friedrich Wilhelm Lach describes a different view, noting that they had been seen as ''Al Haud'' "the Pond", which the Gazelle jumps into. In Chinese astronomy, the stars Beta, 30, 37 and 46 Leonis Minoris made up ''Neiping'', a "Court of Judge or Mediator", or ''Shi'' "Court Eunuch" or were combined with stars of the neighbouring Leo to make up a large celestial dragon or State Chariot.〔See also Chartrand, at p. 158.〕 A line of four stars was known as ''Shaowei''; it represented four Imperial advisors and may have been located in Leo Minor, Leo or adjacent regions. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Leo Minor」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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