September 10 Stars: Select Years 2

September 10
1950 epoch: Leap +2 years
2000 epoch: Leap +1 years

You have a choice of 3 stars on this date. The brightest one, if that is your preference, is 68 Delta LEO

Name: 68 LEO, aka Delta LEO, Zosma
Magnitude: 2.6
Spectrum/Star type: White
Distance in light-years: 58
Diameter compared to Sun: 2
Luminosity compared to Sun: 25
Date best observed: Apr 24
Additional information: Greek:”Girdle”. A double star, outside of the Zodiac. It rotates 90x times faster than the sun. It has expended more than half of its life. Delta makes a fine right triangle with Beta and Theta in the Lion’s hindquarters and tail.
About 3 degrees north of Delta is the overlooked red giant, 72 LEO. More than 6000 light-years away, it must be ~100x bigger and tens of 1000s of times more luminous than Delta and Our Sun! 4.6 mag. It is far from the Zodiac and would be a September 10 star.

Name: 70 LEO, aka Theta LEO, Chort
Magnitude: 3.3
Spectrum/Star type: White
Distance in light-years: 180
Diameter compared to Sun: 4
Luminosity compared to Sun: 120
Date best observed: Apr 25
Additional information: “Ribs”, sometimes called Coxa (“Hips”) and Chertan (“2 Small Ribs”), Theta is only half a billion years old.

Name: 74 LEO, aka Phi LEO
Magnitude: 4.5
Spectrum/Star type: White
Distance in light-years: 195
Date best observed: Apr 25
Additional information: A double star, one star appears to be a rapid rotator.


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