Leo I

Right Ascension	10 : 08.5 (h:m)
Declination	+12 : 18 (deg:m)
Distance	900.0 (kly)
Visual Brightness	9.8 (mag)
Apparent Dimension	9.8 x 7.4 (arc min)

Discovered by R.G. Harrington and A.G. Wilson in 1950.

Leo I is another Local Group Galaxy. It is one of the dwarf speroidal galaxies of the group, and one of the more remote companions of our Milky Way Galaxy. It was discovered in 1950 by R.G. Harrington and A.G. Wilson on plates of the National Geographic Society - Palomar Observatory Sky Survey (POSS) obtained with the 48-inch Schmidt Telescope on Mt. Palomar (Harrington & Wilson 1950), together with another dwarf elliptical galaxy, Leo II.

Because of its apparent proximity to bright first-magnitude Regulus of only about 12 arc minutes, this galaxy is extremely difficult to view visually despite its considerably high total visual brightness of 9.8 magnitudes (photographically 11.2 mag); therefore, it was not detected visually before about 1990.

The image in this page was obtained by David Malin with the Anglo-Australian Telescope. This image is copyrighted and may be used for private purpose only. For any other kind of use, including internet mirroring and storing on CD-ROM, please contact the Photo Permissions Department (photo at aaoepp.aao.gov.au) of the Anglo Australian Observatory.

Observing Reports for Leo 1 (IAAC Netastrocatalog)

References

• Harrington, R. G. and Wilson, A. G., 1950. Two New Stellar Systems in Leo. Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, Vol. 62, No. 365, p.118-120 (06/1950)

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Hartmut Frommert
Christine Kronberg
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Last Modification: March 29, 1998