The Hare and the Dove

Two small constellations are nearly overshadowed by their brilliant neighbour.

by Fred Schaaf

On clear early-autumn evenings it's impossible to ignore the brilliant constellation Orion. But don't overlook two surprisingly bright and interesting characters just above the heavenly Hunter: Lepus, the Hare, and Columba, the Dove. The Hare's brightest stars are only a little dimmer than Delta (δ) Orionis, the easternmost Belt star and the faintest of Orion's seven main lights. Six additional stars in Lepus exceed magnitude 4.0, making the figure an easy sight under moderately dark skies. The Hare's brightest light is 2.6-magnitude Alpha (α) Leporis. It's also known as Arneb, which appropriately enough is the Arabic name for ‘hare’. Arneb occupies the centre of Lepus, about 18° due south of Orion's Belt and more than one hour of right ascension due west of Sirius, the night sky's brightest star. Arneb is a…

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Australian Sky & Telescope (Digital) - 1 Issue, March 2023

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