Most of the 66 or so of the constellations we see around the Butler night sky require you to suspend any sense of reality and turn on the imagination big time.

I always tell folks that constellations are like the dot-to-dot puzzles that children enjoy, but a lot more challenging. Not only do you have to draw the lines between the dots or stars in your mind’s eye, but not all of the dots are the same brightness and there are no numbers by the stars.

Throw in urban lighting in a lot of places and constellation hunting can be really tough, but also a lot of fun at the same time, especially when you beat the odds and really start making the stars your old friends.

Leo the Lion

Leo the Lion is one of the easier constellations to find, and is arguably the best constellation of spring time, both for its brightness and distinct look.

Even though it’s one of the first spring constellations, we actually start seeing it in the eastern evening sky in February in the throes of winter. Now that we’re actually moving toward the summer months Leo is beginning its long goodbye in our western skies after evening twilight.

In a way, Leo is a two-part constellation. On the lower right side is a distinct sickle or backward question mark leaning to the right a bit. Without too much trouble you can see how that sickle resembles the profile of a lion’s chest and head.

The moderately bright star that marks the period at the bottom of the question mark marks the heart of the great celestial lion. That star is called Regulus, and is about 78 light years away from Earth, with one light-year equaling almost 6 trillion miles.

Actually, Regulus isn’t just one star, but a system of four stars orbiting around each other.

The second part of Leo the Lion is a fairly bright triangle of stars to the upper left of the sickle that outlines the rear end and tail of Leo. On the upper left hand corner of the triangle is the star Denebola.

Just to the left of the lion’s tail is a cluster of distant galaxies around 60 million light years away. If you have a really dark sky and a moderate to large backyard telescope you may see some of the member galaxies as faint little smudges. Honestly, they aren’t all that impressive visually, but keep in mind that most of those little smudges are galaxies much, much larger than our Milky Way.

Mythologically, Leo has been seen by many ancient cultures as a celestial lion. In ancient Sumeria, now present day Iraq, there are etchings of a stellar lion in caves that go back thousands of years.

The constellation we know as Leo is also is seen on Egyptian star maps that go back to the time of Cleopatra. The gates of the Egyptian canals irrigating the Nile Valley were often decorated with a lion’s head. That constellation was a big deal to ancient civilizations that were much more connected to the night sky than we are. No laptops or tablets got in their way.

The best constellation stories in my book go back to the mythology surrounding the famous Greek and Roman gods. As with most constellation stories you find multiple tales even within the same culture.

One of my favorite yarns involves a story that reminds me very much of Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet.” I can’t help but wonder if Shakespeare got the idea from this old Roman tragedy. See what you think.

Pyramus and Thisbe were lovers, but were forbidden to marry by their parents. Who knows, maybe it went back to an old family feud.

The two talked secretly through a tiny hole in the wall between their houses. Their love for each other grew and grew, and they decided that they had to rendezvous and make a break for it. So they planned to meet outside the city in a grove of mulberry trees with white berries.

When Thisbe arrived at the grove Pyramus wasn’t there yet. While she waited for her true love a hungry lion stalked her, and just before it dove at Thisbe for the kill she ran away as fast as she could.

In her haste she lost her veil, which the lion snatched up with its paw. When Pyramus arrived he saw Thisbe’s torn veil, saw the lion in the distance, and assumed the worst.

In his extreme grief he did himself in with his sword. Moments later Thisbe arrived at the bloody scene and clung to her dead boyfriend’s body. Overcome by her own grief she took Pyramus’s sword and thrust it into her broken heart. Their blood colored the white mulberries red, and ever since most mulberries have a red hue.

Not including the part about the mulberries changing colors, doesn’t this sound like Romeo and Juliet?

Enjoy the constellation Leo the Lion in the western sky. Don’t wait too long to see it. Around the start of June Leo will make a seasonal exit below the western horizon by the end of evening twilight.

Mike Lynch is an amateur astronomer and professional broadcast meteorologist for WCCO Radio in Minneapolis/St. Paul. He is also the author of “Stars: a Month by Month Tour of the Constellations,” published by Adventure Publications and available at bookstores and at adventurepublications.net. Contact Mike Lynch at mikewlynch@comcast.net.