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Star Lore Leo Minor The Lesser Lion

Leo Minor is a small constellation in the northern hemisphere. It was one of seven new constellations designed by Polish astronomer Johannes Hevelius in 1687.

For a brief overview of the main stars of the constellation, click the Astronomy icon. For an alphabetic listing of the constellation's main object in different cultures, click the Index icon.

The constellation is made of faint stars between the classical Ptolemaic constellations Ursa Major and Leo.

The Borgian Globe The Borgian Globe is an Arabic celestial globe manufactured in 1225 and recovered in 1790 by Cardinal Stefano Borgia. It shows the Ptolemaic constellations, inscribed in Kufic characters. In addition, it shows two constellations not shown on any other globe. One square underneath the "Tail" of Ursa Major at the location of modern day Canes Venatici. The other one is an oval shape, enclosing eight stars in the location of the modern constellations Lynx and Leo Minor.

al thibā᾽ wa‑aulāduhā on the Borgian Globe Source: atlascoelestis.com

R.H. Allen cites two different interpretations. German astronomer C.L. Ideler described the formation as al thibā᾽ wa‑aulāduhā, a Gazelle with her Young. Arabist Friedrich Wilhelm Lach, on the other hand, called it al haud, the Pond (into which the Gazelle jumps). Sources: R.H. Allen, atlascoelestis.com

The Jordan River The first one to use the uncategorized stars around Ursa Major to design a constellation was Dutch cartographer Petrus Plancius, turning them into the constellation Jordanis, on some maps called Jordanus or Jordanus Fluvius. In Plancius' design, the river originated at a star now known as Cor Caroli or α Canum Venaticorum and ended near the constellation Camelopardalis, - another one of Plancius' creations. Plancius' introduced his constellations on a globe in 1612 and throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, the Jordan River would flow through several star maps, until Johannes Hevelius replaced it with several constellations of his own design. Sources: John C. Barentine: The Lost Constellations, Ian Ridpath, Wikipedia

Fluvius Jordanus by Carel Allard, 1706 Source: atlascoelestis.com

Firmamentum Sobiescianum Between 1641 and 1687, Polish astronomer Johannes Hevelius and his second wife Elisabeth compiled data of 1,564 stars - the largest number ever observed with the naked eye. A star catalogue called Catalogus Stellarum Fixarum and a star atlas called Firmamentum Sobiescianum were published by Elisabeth Hevelius in 1690, three years Johannes Hevelius' death. They contained ten new constellations, seven of which are still used today. Hevelius transformed Plancius' Jordan River (see above) into three constellations of his own: Canes Venatici, Leo Minor and Lynx. Sources: Ian Ridpath, R.H. Allen, Wikipedia

Leo Minor above Leo in Uranias Mirror

In 1870, English astronomer Richard A. Proctor suggested to shorten the name of the constellation to Leaena (Latin for Lioness), but the original name prevailed. Source: Wikipedia

In 2017, the IAU's Working Group on Star Names accepted the name Praecipua, (Principal Star) for 46 Leonis Minoris, the brightest star in the constellation. According to Ian Ridpath, the name first appeared in the Palermo Catalogue, published in 1803 under the supervision of Sicilian astronomer Giuseppe Piazzi. Piazzi, however, saw the star 37 Leonis Minoris as the brightest star in the constellation. Source: Ian Ridpath

Praecipua in the Palermo Catalogue

Chinese Astronomy In Chinese, Leo Minor is written 小 獅 座. In Chinese astronomy, the northernmost stars of Leo Minor are part of Zǐ Wēi Yuán, the Purple Forbidden Enclosure. Here, β, 30, 37 and 46 LMi, together with a number of fainter stars form Shì, a Eunuch. According to Ian Ridpath, these stars were once called Nčipíng, the High Judge, an image that later has been transferred to the 25th Lunar Mansion, called Xīng (the Star). Nčipíng now consists of 10, 11, 20 and 21 LMi and a number of fainter stars. Ian Ridpath reports that there is a lot of confusion about which stars of Leo Minor belong to which traditional Chinese formation.

Chinese Eunuchs; source: worldhistory.org Mural in the Tomb of Prince Zhanghuai, 706 AD

He describes "a line of four stars extending southwards into Leo" and explains that this formation, called Shǎowēi represented "four scholarly advisors to the Emperor" and continues that the same stars were used later to form an asterism called Xuānyuán, a Border Wall. Wikipedia, quoting the National Cheng Kung University puts Xuānyuán with the stars 7 and 8 LMi into the 25th Lunar Mansion, which is part of the Vermilion Bird of the South and Shǎowēi with the stars 39, 40, 41, 48, 50 and 51 LMi into Tŕi Wēi Yuán, the Supreme Palace Enclosure. Sources: Ian Ridpath, Wikipedia

In the 2019 NameExoWorld project, in which each country on earth could name one star and one exoplanet, one star and planet in the constellation Leo Minor received a proper name. . Albania chose two names deeply rooted in the nation's history. The Illyrians were one of three ancient Paleo-Balkan peoples. The name was the term used by the ancient Greeks for their northern neighbors. Historians largely believe that the Albanians are descendants of the Illyrians, and Albanians today still proudly call themselves Illyrians. Arbër is the Albanian name for the Principality of Arbanon. The principality was established in 1190 as the first Albanian state in recorded history. The star HD 82886 was named Illyrian; its planet HD 82886 b was named Arber. Sources: NameExoWorlds Approved Names

Teuta, Queen of Illyria, ca. 230 BC Source: albania360.com

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