Constellation, Hare
Lepus
A hare crouching at the feet of Orion the hunter, chased across the sky by his dog. It is one of the constellations of ancient Greece.
From New York on October 13, 2026, the centre of Lepus rises at 11:57 PM, is highest at 4:57 AM (32° above the horizon in the S) and sets at 9:57 AM.
In the 3D sky
The sky over New York turned towards Lepus. Drag to look around.
Loading 3D view...
Drag to look around, pinch or scroll to zoom.
Evening visibility over the year
Height of the constellation’s centre above the horizon at 10 pm local time on the 15th of each month, from New York. Above about 30° it is well placed.
Name and history
The Greeks called this figure Lagoös, their word for hare. Eratosthenes wrote that Hermes put the hare in the sky because it is so swift. The poet Aratus described the Great Dog, Canis Major, chasing the hare in an endless race. Hyginus told a story with a moral. A man once brought a pregnant hare to the island of Leros. Soon hares overran the island, ate the crops and left people starving. After the islanders drove them out, they placed a hare among the stars as a reminder that you can have too much of a good thing.
The brightest star, Arneb, takes its name from the Arabic al-arnab, ‘the hare’. Arab astronomers used the same word for the whole constellation. Four fainter stars to the north trace the animal’s long ears. In China the same area held a well for the army and, more humbly, a toilet with a privacy screen.
Sources: Ian Ridpath, Star Tales: Lepus
Brightest stars
| Star | Designation | Magnitude | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arneb | α Lep | 2.58 | 2,219 light-years |
| Nihal | β Lep | 2.81 | 160 light-years |
| Ping | ε Lep | 3.19 | 213 light-years |
| Bade | μ Lep | 3.29 | 186 light-years |
| Darlugal | ζ Lep | 3.55 | 71 light-years |
| γ Lep | γ Lep | 3.59 | 29 light-years |
| η Lep | η Lep | 3.71 | 49 light-years |
| δ Lep | δ Lep | 3.76 | 114 light-years |
| λ Lep | λ Lep | 4.29 | 852 light-years |
| κ Lep | κ Lep | 4.36 | 728 light-years |
Facts
| Area | about 290 square degrees (51 of 88) |
|---|---|
| IAU abbreviation | Lep |
| Sky | Southern sky |
| Origin | One of the 48 constellations listed in Ptolemy’s Almagest, about AD 150 |
| Stars brighter than magnitude 5 | 15 |
| Centre (J2000) | 5.5 h, -17° |
Deep-sky objects
Galaxies, clusters and nebulae brighter than magnitude 9, from the OpenNGC catalogue. Most need binoculars or a telescope and a dark sky.
| Object | Type | Magnitude |
|---|---|---|
| M79 | Globular cluster | 8.2 |
Boundaries: International Astronomical Union, via Astronomy Engine. Areas are computed from the boundaries by sampling (within about one percent). Names and lines: Stellarium. Stars: HYG Database. Deep-sky objects: OpenNGC. Calculated with Astronomy Engine, an open-source library verified against the US Naval Observatory and NASA JPL. Data sources
How to use this page
Choose your place and a night at the top. The answer and the 3D view show where the constellation is, when it is highest and whether it rises at all from where you are. The chart shows its stars and lines, and the tables list its brightest stars and the deep-sky objects inside it.
Frequently asked questions
When is a constellation best seen?
When it is highest in a dark sky, which the page gives for the night you pick. Each constellation is best placed in a particular season, because the stars rise about four minutes earlier every night.
Why can I not see a constellation from my place?
Constellations far south of the celestial equator never rise from northern places, and those far north never rise from southern ones. The page says when this is the case.
What are the constellation boundaries?
The International Astronomical Union divides the sky into 88 areas with official boundaries. The stick figures are only a drawing aid, the boundaries say which constellation a point in the sky belongs to.
Related guides
- How to learn the constellationsStart with one bright pattern you cannot miss, use it as a signpost to its neighbours, and come back a month later: the sky will have turned, and you will know a little more of it.
- Altitude and azimuth: finding things in the skyTwo angles tell you exactly where to look: which direction, and how high.
- Light pollution and dark skies: the Bortle scaleFrom a city centre you can count a few dozen stars. From a truly dark site you can count a few thousand, with the Milky Way bright enough to cast a shadow. The Bortle scale puts a number on the difference.
- Binoculars for stargazing: what to buy and what to look atA pair of 7x50 or 10x50 binoculars shows the craters of the Moon, the moons of Jupiter, dozens of star clusters and the Andromeda Galaxy, for a fraction of the cost of a telescope.