Regulus
Blue-white main-sequence star · Alpha Leonis
Brightest star in Leo; spins so fast it is visibly flattened
Regulus is the brightest star in Leo and one of the fastest-spinning bright stars known, whirling near its break-up speed so that it bulges at the equator and shines hotter at its poles. It marks the heart of the Lion and sits almost exactly on the ecliptic, so the Moon and planets regularly pass close by.
Illustration generated from temperature, not a photograph
4.2 ☉
mass (the Sun = 1)
341 ×
as bright as the Sun
11,535 K
surface · blue-white star
4 R☉
radius (the Sun = 1)
79 ly
from Earth
1.4
apparent magnitude
It pours out about 341 times the Sun’s light. Its light has been travelling 79 years to reach us, so you see Regulus as it was 79 years ago.
Source · View on Wikidata
It lives in
Milky Way
Barred spiral galaxy.
Other notable stars in Milky Way
Eta CarinaeLuminous blue variableAlnilamBlue supergiantVY Canis MajorisRed hypergiantAlnitakHot blue supergiantDenebBlue-white supergiantMintakaHot blue giant multiple star
Stars of similar brightness
AldebaranOrange giant439 ×ArcturusOrange giant215 ×AlgolBlue-white eclipsing binary182 ×AlphardOrange giant971 ×AchernarBlue-white main-sequence star1 thousand ×PolarisYellow supergiant Cepheid variable1 thousand ×
Worlds in the same direction on the sky→