April 9
The Lion's Girdle
Sun Position
The Sun is in Aries near +12° declination. Northern spring is well established, with long evenings and comfortable observing conditions at mid-latitudes; southern hemisphere nights are lengthening toward winter.
Sky Highlight
April is the peak month for galaxy hunting along the Leo-Virgo corridor. The Leo Triplet (M65, M66, NGC 3628) and the Virgo Cluster together make the spring Milky Way neighborhood a showcase of cosmic structure, an annual tradition for telescope users in both hemispheres, though the objects are better placed from northern latitudes.
Deep Sky Object
M66 (NGC 3627), spiral galaxy in Leo, Leo Triplet, about 36 million light-years. M66 is the brightest of the Leo Triplet and shows notable asymmetry and a displaced nucleus caused by gravitational interaction with its neighbors M65 and NGC 3628; a fine target for amateur photography. Best from northern mid-latitudes.
Featured Star
Zosma (δ Leo) sits 58.4 light-years away, an A4V main-sequence star with a Greek name (meaning 'girdle' or 'loin-cloth') that survived transmission through Arabic astronomical texts. It marks the hip of Leo and is part of a historical double identity: its proper motion and physical similarity place it as a likely former member of the Ursa Major Moving Group.
Around This Date
- April 9, 1959NASA publicly announced the first seven American astronauts selected for Project Mercury, introducing them at a press conference in Washington.
- April 12, 1961Yuri Gagarin became the first human in space, completing one orbit of Earth aboard Vostok 1 in 108 minutes.
Zosma has carried two names from two languages across two thousand years; it has been where it is the entire time.