The Constellation Lepus
Lepus lies immediately south of Orion, where it culminates at midnight in the December sky.
The name ‘lepus’ is Latin for hare, and the creature represented here is often said to be chased by Orion's two dogs, Canis Major and Canis Minor. For sure, the two dogs rise and set about an hour behind Lepus. However, the hare is not usually depicted in flight, but rather couched at the hunter's feet.
Lepus is a relatively faint constellation: its brightest star is of third magnitude and is called Arneb, Arabic for ‘hare’. Its only Messier object is the eighth-magnitude globular cluster M79.
Hover the pointer over the name of an object to highlight its position on the starchart to the right, or click to see more information.
| Stars | Open Clusters | Globular Clusters | Galaxies |
| Arneb (mag 2.6) | NGC 2017 | Messier 79 (mag 7.7) | NGC 1964 (mag 10.9) |
| Nihal (mag 2.8) | NGC 2196 (mag 11.2) | ||
| ε-Lep (mag 3.2) | NGC 1744 (mag 11.5) | ||
| μ-Lep (mag 3.3) | NGC 1832 (mag 11.5) | ||
| ζ-Lep (mag 3.5) | NGC 1784 (mag 11.6) | ||
| γ-Lep (mag 3.6) | NGC 2139 (mag 11.7) | ||
| η-Lep (mag 3.7) | NGC 1888 (mag 11.9) | ||
| δ-Lep (mag 3.8) | NGC 1954 (mag 12.0) | ||
| λ-Lep (mag 4.3) | IC 438 (mag 12.1) | ||
| κ-Lep (mag 4.4) | NGC 2179 (mag 12.3) | ||
| ι-Lep (mag 4.4) | NGC 1979 (mag 12.9) | ||
| θ-Lep (mag 4.7) | NGC 2076 (mag 12.9) | ||
| HIP 24927 (mag 4.7) | NGC 2089 (mag 12.9) | ||
| HIP 23362 (mag 4.9) | NGC 2106 (mag 13.1) | ||
| SS Lep (mag 5.0) | NGC 1730 (mag 13.2) | ||
| HIP 23430 (mag 5.0) | IC 2143 (mag 13.4) | ||
| HIP 28675 (mag 5.0) | NGC 2073 (mag 13.4) | ||
| HIP 24505 (mag 5.0) | NGC 2124 (mag 13.4) | ||
| 8-Lep (mag 5.2) | IC 2152 (mag 13.5) | ||
| ν-Lep (mag 5.3) | NGC 1886 (mag 13.6) | ||
| 19-Lep (mag 5.3) | NGC 1993 (mag 13.6) | ||
| HIP 25045 (mag 5.4) | NGC 1738 (mag 13.7) | ||
| HIP 28943 (mag 5.5) | NGC 1781 (mag 13.7) | ||
| HIP 29150 (mag 5.5) | IC 2104 (mag 13.8) | ||
| HIP 24679 (mag 5.5) | IC 408 (mag 13.8) | ||
| 10-Lep (mag 5.5) | IC 2129 (mag 13.8) | ||
| HIP 29205 (mag 5.6) | IC 416 (mag 13.9) | ||
| HIP 23554 (mag 5.6) | NGC 1821 (mag 13.9) | ||
| HIP 27517 (mag 5.6) | NGC 1716 (mag 13.9) | ||
| HIP 27938 (mag 5.6) | IC 2137 (mag 13.9) |
