February 11
The Little King
Sun Position
The Sun is in Aquarius at about +10° declination. Northern hemisphere daylight reaches about 10.5 to 11 hours depending on latitude; southern days are shortening from late summer.
Sky Highlight
No annual shower today. Regulus sits almost exactly on the ecliptic, meaning the Moon passes very close to it roughly once per month, making lunar occultations of Regulus relatively common astronomical events to watch for.
Deep Sky Object
M96, a spiral galaxy roughly 31 million light-years away. The dominant spiral galaxy of the Leo I group, asymmetrical in form, its off-center nucleus and lopsided spiral arms suggest gravitational interaction with its neighbors. Visible from both hemispheres; best from February through April.
Featured Star
Regulus (α Leo) is a main-sequence B-type star 79.3 light-years away, spectral class B7V, spinning so fast it bulges noticeably at the equator, one full rotation in about 15.9 hours. The lion's heart and the brightest star on the ecliptic, grazed by the Moon every month like clockwork.
Around This Date
- February 11, 1970Japan became the fourth nation to launch a satellite independently, sending Ohsumi into orbit on a Lambda-4S rocket from Kagoshima.
- February 11, 2016The LIGO-Virgo collaboration announced the first direct detection of gravitational waves, from a binary black hole merger designated GW150914.
Regulus spins so fast its equator bulges, even the king is a little lopsided.