Leo-Sign & Leo Constellation

We go from a very small, dim Cancer constellation to the bright, large, Leo the Lion Constellation with its bright Star Regulus, our 21^st brightest star. Regulus [Alpha Leo] is a Multiple Star consisting of small connected stars Regulus B and C orbiting at about 4000 A.U. from the main star [4000 times further than Earth from the Sun]. Within the past years Astronomers claim 2 new stars in the Regulus Star system. “Regulus D” and then a close Carbon Star orbiting Regulus A every 40 days.

The Leo Star Chart [see the Leo Sky Map above] highlights 2 other major stars in Leo that are binary-multiple star systems. [This Leo Astronomy relates to the Leo Astrology and Leo Horoscope and will be mentioned in the Astrology section.] Those with telescopes or even binoculars can even notice the Double Stars of Gamma Leo above the brighter Alpha Leo. [Note that star names in Constellations typical use Greek lettering. In this case the brightest stars Regulus is also called “Alpha Leo,” or “Alpha Leonis” then next star, typically the 2^nd brightest is then Beta Leo; the 3^rd is then Gamma Leo; the 4^th is Delta Leo to Epsilon Leo, Zeta Leo et cetera.]

Also, of possible importance to Astronomy in the Leo Constellation concerns a mystery about changing brightness of Beta Leo. Early Astronomers [up to the 1600s] all listed Beta Leo [Denebola] as the same brightness Regulus. Right now Alpha Leo [Regulus] is twice the brightness as Beta Leo [Denebola]. [Either this was an error in the record of early sky observers, or another of many examples that the so-called Big Bang with its “evolution of stars” is incorrect.]

Also of note is an active Carbon Star “CW Leo.” [Note, like many stars, this one has many names, IRC 10216 is another of many more names for this Leo Star.] This Carbon Star very bright in Infrared showing activity in its surrounding matter, [possible “shells”]. This Carbon Star in Leo is also right along the elliptic, about 5 degrees from Alpha Leo. [The Elliptic is the Apparent path of the Sun through Leo and all the Zodiac Constellations. Basically, the Elliptic goes from the M44 “Beehive” “Breast” of the Cancer Sign [i.e. the Star Cluster] to this Carbon Star CW Leo, to Alpha Leo [Regulus].

The Leo Constellation also has a lot of M [Messier] Galaxies. [See Image below.] These means telescope users looking for galaxies in the Leo Constellation can see these galaxies which Astronomers say are 35 to 38 million light years away. These bright galaxies are significant in Leo, almost as if preparing for the Sun-Zodiac path to Virgo, then to our Galactic Center in Sagittarius.

“They swagger about displaying the fruits of

luxury – but the sentiments of their honest

hearts are without guile.” [Manilius, 1st century]

The mythological Lion is actually killed by Hercules; however this mythology seems to have little to do with the Lion of the Leo Sign. The Lion is often the symbol for the King and Power. Those born in the Leo Sign are often domineering in their personality. Their active energies and power are said to run and "heart and spine" qualifying the Keyword "I Will" and "Dominion." 

Those in with the Leo Sign can be very ambitious, striving for opportunities. They often make effective CEOs, rewarding those who support their aims. On a negative side, they can be arrogant, inflating their own accomplishments. They can also neglect to delegate, trying to do it all themselves. [Note many Leos may die of heart attacks. They can be career musicians [like Madonna], actors, designers, politicians, lawyers etc. [See famous Leo Personalities below.] 

As mentioned, they can often get attached to their goals, or those they love. For example, where an Aquarius Sign tends to be impersonal, the Leo might devote the entire heart and remain attached.

Leo accomplishments can be great, yet also the faults. A lot depends on the focus of those with the Leo Sign. Will they dwell surface goals, on a satisfying a lower "self? Or will those with the Sign of Leo Power focus on a higher "Self" where leadership and inspirational qualities edify all the Zodiac Signs?

Spiritual Astronomy interprets all Light, in fact all of Reality as Spiritual. [More will be written in the Spiritual Astronomy Site in the future.]

For now let's just look at how the astronomy of the Leo Constellation fits with the Zodiac. Right on the Breast of the Lion is Alpha Leo with a bright (21st Brightest) Star that guides 2 or 3 small more distant stars [B and C and possibly a D]. A few years ago Astronomers agreed that a Carbon Star [about the size of Earth] encircle the main star every 40 days. The major star for the Lion's Mane "Gamma Leo" is a Binary Pair of Stars. In fact a standard Astronomer's Star Atlas shows a 11 Double or Multitude Star Systems in the Leo Constellation. Yet, the Cambridge Double Star Atlas from 2009 shows a total of 36 Double or Multitude Star Systems. The Strength of Leo can bond Light.

Next, the Bight M [Messier] Galaxies exist, as if on a representative back leg and belly of the Leo Lion. Think about spiritually significance of this for our Leo Sign. [Wait to see the galaxies in the Virgin, Virgo Sign.] Since these Galaxies are beyond our Local Group [basically out the Great Andromeda Galaxy M31] I see them like Seed Forms to inspire our actualization of Light [Like an Enlightenment]. There are many more galaxies around these, the 5 noted M galaxies are the brightest.

The M [Messier] objects in Cancer are open star clusters. These are not so called Galaxies. Throughout the Zodiac Signs and the Astronomical Star Charts [Sky Maps] we can get more connected to the Light, even as we let the Light guide our lifetimes. Everybody can recognize certain attributes from their Zodiac Sign. I like to say that we are the Light. May Spiritual Astronomy assist our connection to the Self and all the Light [reality] that surrounds.

A future pages will show Astronomical images with the bright Infrared Carbon Star, CW Leo.

(Leo with Moon in Aries)

Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Andy Warhol, Jennifer Lopez

(Leo with Moon in Taurus)

Bill Clinton, Mick Jagger, Kyra Sedgwick

(Leo with Moon in Gemini)

Amelia Earhart, Tony Bennett

(Leo with Moon in Cancer)

Emily Brontë, Annie Oakley, Sean Penn

(Leo with Moon in Leo)

Charlize Theron, Halle Berry

(Leo with Moon in Virgo)

Madonna, Dustin Hoffman, J. K. Rowling

(Leo with Moon in Libra)

Fidel Castro, Belinda Carlisle, Julia Child

(Leo with Moon in Scorpio)

Alfred Hitchcock, Ben Affleck, Steve Martin

(Leo with Moon in Sagittarius)

Herman Melville, Magic Johnson, Martha Stewart

(Leo with Moon in Capricorn)

Napoleon Bonaparte, Arnold Schwarzenegger

(Leo with Moon in Aquarius)

Sandra Bullock, Beatrix Potter

(Leo with Moon in Pisces)

Coco Chanel, Robert De Niro

Aladin V6.0 software and SkyView Data

Astrology: A Cosmic Science by Isabel Hickey, 1992

Astrology; by Louis MacNeice, 1964

Astrology, DK Eyewitness Companions; by Julia & Derek Parker, 2007

Astrology For Dummies; by Rae Orion 2007,

Cambridge Double Star Atlas, by J. Mullaney and W. Tirion, 2009

“Herschel PACS and SPIRE imaging of CW Leo,” D. Ladjal et al., May 11, 2010

Philip’s Atlas of the Universe, by Sir Patrick Moore, 2007

Stellarium Software (Version 0.62)