We return to the same southern patch of sky as last week to track down the faint constellation of Lepus, the hare. Lying just south of the celestial equator, Lepus can be seen from both hemispheres at this time of year.
The chart shows the view looking south from London at 22.00GMT on 9 January.
Although the constellation was recorded by the astronomer Ptolemy in the second century as one of the original 48 constellations, there is no particular classical myth of the hare. The nearest story comes from Aesop’s fables circa 600 BC, and is the famous tortoise and hare story. Any link, however, is tenuous because there is no tortoise constellation. Instead, the association may simply have been irresistible to early stargazers because the asterism can quite easily be imagined as a hare with two large ears.
Located at the feet of Orion, the hunter, it is often said to be Orion’s quarry, being pursued by Orion’s hunting dogs: Canis Major and Canis Minor. There are no particularly bright stars in Lepus, instead memorise the shape and then wait outside for your eyes to adjust to the dark. Locate Orion and look below his feet, the hare will come leaping out at you.
