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the zodiac

Leo

from , ,
to ,

The Sun in front of the constellation
11 August to 17 September 2026
Brightest star
Regulus
In astrological tradition
fire sign, fixed sign
Traditional ruler
The Sun
Engraving from 1690: a striding lion with open jaws and a thick mane, covered in numbered stars, above a sextant.
Johannes Hevelius, Firmamentum Sobiescianum, Gdańsk, 1690, plate of Leo (detail). As on a celestial globe, the sky is seen from outside, and therefore mirrored.

The Nemean lion

Leo is the Nemean lion, killed by Heracles in the first of his twelve labours; Zeus set it in the sky to commemorate the feat.

Ovid calls it Herculeus Leo, Hercules’s lion, and Manilius ‘the star of Jupiter and Juno’.

The king’s star

In Babylon the constellation was UR.GU.LA, ‘the great lion’, and Regulus ‘the star that stands at the lion’s breast’, also called Sharru, ‘the king’. It was one of the four ‘royal stars’ of the Persian monarchy. Its Latin name means ‘little king’.

The real constellation

Six stars draw the Sickle, a backwards question mark ending in Regulus. Among bright stars Regulus lies closest to the ecliptic, 0.465 degrees away: the Moon passes in front of it in spates about every 9.3 years, the latest in 2026.

From Brussels, Regulus climbs to 51 degrees and is highest around 10 pm in mid-April. In 2026 the Sun crossed Leo from 11 August to 17 September. This week Jupiter is there, rising around .

Its stars

Alpha Leonis

Regulus

Magnitude 1.35, about 79 light years away. It spins once every 15.9 hours; its equator moves at about 320 km/s, which visibly flattens it.

Beta Leonis

Denebola

Magnitude 2.14, about 36 light years away. It marks the lion’s tail.

Gamma Leonis

Algieba

A gold-yellow double giant about 130 light years away; its two stars orbit each other in about 600 years.

Delta Leonis

Zosma

Magnitude 2.56, about 58 light years away, blue-white.

In art and history

A lion in Babylon, a lion in Greece, a lion in the atlases: the figure has stayed true to itself.

  • BabylonUR.GU.LA, ‘the great lion’, with Regulus at its breast.
  • The LeonidsEvery year around 14 and 15 November these shooting stars seem to burst out of Leo. They come from Comet Tempel-Tuttle, which causes strong outbursts about every 35 years.
  • Scientific atlasesIn 1690 Hevelius engraved a striding lion with open jaws, above the Sextant he had added to the sky himself.

Leo this week

Read it for pleasure, not for prophecy.

A piece written for fun, based on the real sky of 19 to 25 October 2026. It says nothing about your future.

Jupiter is crossing your stars and rises around . At magnitude −2 it outshines every star in the sky. You find this perfectly normal.

Regulus, your heart, spends the season on the morning side. If you’re up before dawn, look up: the stage is yours, and there isn’t even an audience to acknowledge.

Sources

Facts checked in the following sources; positions and times computed for Brussels.