h2g2 - Constellations: Lepus 'the Hare'

Don't brag about your lightning pace, for slow and steady¹ won the race!
- Aesop's Fables.

Name: Lepus (Latin: 'hare')
Genitive: Leporis
Short form: Lep
Area: 290 sq deg
Co-ordinates²: Right Ascension 06^h, Declination −20°
Origin: Ancient

The small southern constellation Lepus honours the hare which is hunted nightly by Orion and his hunting dogs. Lepus is easy to find, being directly beneath possibly the most well-known constellation of all, Orion.

Arabs historically saw Lepus not as an animal but 'the throne of the central one', because of its position under Orion.

Lepus shares its borders with Eridanus, Caelum, Columba, Canis Major and Monoceros.

There is one Messier object in Lepus, M79 — a globular star cluster about 42,000 light years³ away. Discovered in 1780 by French astronomer Pierre François André Méchain (1744 - 1804), the cluster is +7.7 magnitude, although this can vary slightly.

A quite remarkable object in Lepus is the planetary nebula IC 418, which has been named The Spirograph Nebula because it looks as if it has been designed by someone using the toy. The central star, ZZ Leporis, is giving off chaotic solar winds which may be the cause of the remarkable pattern.



	Stars

The scientific star names are simple to understand (if you know your Greek alphabet). For example: 'alpha Leporis' means it is the brightest star in the constellation Lepus. The next brightest is designated 'beta' etc. Combined with the genitive name, this is known as the 'Bayer designation'. Some stars have proper names as well, for example, alpha Leporis is Arneb. Others are known by their catalogue number.

The star R Leporis glows an intense red. Its discoverer, the English astronomer John Russell Hind (1823 - 1895), was so taken with R Leporis that in 1845 he wrote of it as resembling a blood-drop on the background of the sky. It is now known by the common name 'Hind's Crimson Star'.

Gliese 229 is a binary star system whose components are neighbours of ours, at just 19 light years distant.

Star Table

Star Designation Name or
catalogue number Magnitude Distance
(light years) Spectral classification
and/or comments
α Lep alpha Lep Arneb +2.6 1,280 Yellow-white supergiant
β Lep beta Lep Nihal +2.8 160 Yellow supergiant
γ Lep gamma Lep 13 Leporis +3.6 var 29 Multiple star system
δ Lep delta Lep 15 Leporis +3.7 112 Yellow dwarf
ε Lep epsilon Lep Sasin +3.2 225 Orange giant
ζ Lep zeta Lep 14 Leporis +3.5 70 Has a debris disc
η Lep eta Lep 16 Leporis +3.7 49 Yellow-white dwarf
θ Lep theta Lep 18 Leporis +4.7 170 White giant
ι Lep iota Lep 3 Leporis +4.5 240 Blue-white dwarf
κ Lep kappa Lep 4 Leporis +4.4 560 Blue-white dwarf
R Lep HD 31996 Hind's Crimson Star +5.5 var 1,500 Carbon star
Gliese 229 HD 42581 SAO 171334 +8.2 var 19 Binary star system



	New General Catalogue (NGC) and IC (Index Catalogue)

The NGC was compiled by John Louis Emil Dreyer (director of the Armagh Observatory from 1882 - 1916).

IC 418 is the enigmatic Spirograph Nebula discovered by Scottish astronomer Williamina Paton Stevens Fleming.

NGC/IC Table

Catalogue	Type	Magnitude	Distance (light years)	Remarks
NGC 2017	Open cluster	+6.4	1,300	Six gravitationally bound stars
NGC 1904 (M79)	Globular cluster	+7.7	42,000	Part of Canis Major Dwarf galaxy
IC 418	Planetary nebula	+11	2,000	Discovered in 1891 by Williamina Fleming



	Extrasolar Planet in Lepus

One extrasolar planetary system had been found in the constellation Lepus, up to 2007; it was discovered in 2006. It is a gas giant which is in an extremely close and chaotic orbit around its star.

Extrasolar Planet Table

Star name or catalogue number	Planet catalogue number	Planet mass (Jovian scale)	Orbital period (Earth days)	Year of discovery	Comments
HD 33283	HD 33283 b	0.33	18.2	2006	Hot gas giant, eccentric orbit



	Superstitions

There are many superstitions surrounding hares:

Witches were believed to be able to turn themselves into the shape of a hare.

The creatures have been hunted for hundreds of years. Hare meat is an extremely rich source of iron and protein, but many people will not touch them, never mind eat them!

A hare running through a town was once seen as an omen that there would be a house fire shortly afterwards.

If a pregnant woman stumbled upon a hare, or stepped into its lair, there was a superstition that her child would be born with a hare-lip. To prevent this, the woman would have to stoop down and tear the hem of her dress to counteract the curse.

For some people hares meant bad luck. Sailors would delay a voyage if they encountered a hare. And if someone were to come across one on a journey it was thought wise to return home. There were even charms to chant to ward off the jinx: Spit over your left shoulder then say 'Hare before, Trouble behind: Change ye, Cross, and free me'; or touch each shoulder with your forefinger and say, 'Hare, hare, God send thee care.'

Other people thought hares were a good luck charm! As a prevention against colic, Samuel Pepys always kept a hare's foot on his person. Fretful, colicky baby? Some midwives advised feeding them hare's brains. (This recipe did not make babyfood manufacturers' menus. Nowadays a teaspoonful of gripe water is preferred, but there are other treatments.)