Lepus (constellation)
- Orion
- Eridanus
- Burin
- Dove
- Big Dog
- Unicorn
The hare ( Lepus Latin ) is a constellation near the celestial equator.
Description
The rabbit can be found south of the eye-catching Orion. Seen from Germany he stands in winter relatively low over the southern horizon.
Two of its stars are brighter than the third magnitude.
In the rabbit is the globular cluster M 79
History
The rabbit is one of the classic 48 constellations of the ancient world, mentioned by Ptolemy.
Mythology
In ancient Egypt, the constellation represented the god of the dead Anubis, a human figure with a dog's head. One other interpretation after it was the boat of the god Osiris.
The interpretation of the constellation as a hare by the ancient Greeks probably goes back to the adjacent sky hunter Orion and Canis Major. Every night the hare is hunted by the Great dog across the sky.
Celestial objects
Stars
α Leporis is about 1200 light years distant star of spectral type F0 Ib. It is a star with 10 times the mass, 75 times the diameter and 13,000 times the luminosity of our Sun.
The name derives from the Arneb arabischenen " al arnah " for " rabbit" from.
β Leporis is 159 light years away. He is a bright yellowish giant star of spectral type G4 and II
The name Nihal also comes from the Arabic and means as much as " camels delete their thirst ."
The star Gliese 229 is at a distance of 19 light years, one of the nearest neighbors of our sun. There is a red dwarf star of spectral type M1 V. To his observation requires at least one prism binoculars. 1998, a companion star, a brown dwarf with 20 to 50 times the mass of Jupiter was detected there.
Double stars
γ Leporis is a double star system in just 26 light years away. The two components can already be observed with a small telescope.
Variable Stars
The 200 light years away Leporis μ is a variable star, whose brightness varies with a period of about 2 days to 0.2 magnitudes.
The 500 light- years distant RX Leporis changes its brightness with no discernible period.
R Leporis is about 800 light years distant star, similar to Mira, which changes its brightness strongly with a period of about 430 days. He belongs to the spectral class C7, 6e and is one of the reddest objects in the night sky. Sometimes it is also called " Karmesinstern " or " Hinds purple star" ( named after the British astronomer John Russell Hind, who described its variability ) refers. While the maximum brightness, it can be seen with the naked eye. However, a telescope is required for the observation of the impressive color.
Messier and NGC objects
In rabbits there is the 40,000 light years distant globular cluster M79. Already in binoculars it appears as misty spot. In a medium-sized telescope in the edge region can be resolved into individual stars. It is however difficult to observe from Germany because it is low in the sky.