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Lion, often called "The Sickle." If you imagine the curved part of the reversed question mark as outlining the Lion's mane, and Regulus as his heart (located in the middle of his chest above the front legs), you can perhaps make make out this great feline as the ancients did. The hindquarters and tail consist of a triangle of stars above the moon and Regulus. Leo is oriented with his head downward, as if jumping to

ward the western horizon. Interestingly enough, it wasn't just the astronomers of ancient Greece and elsewhere in the Old World. It is said that Peruvian natives saw these stars as a mountain lion springing on his prey.
• The moon's orbit sometimes brings it close enough to Regulus to occult or eclipse it, although this hasn't happened since May 12, 2008 and will not occur again until December 18, 2016. There is no occultation tonight, but the moon swings fairly close to Regulus for a day or two every month. Of course you know that they are not really close. A trip to the moon covers a distance equivalent of approximately 10 times around the earth, or nearly 250,000 miles. If you could drive that distance nonstop at 50 miles per hour, it would take more than 6 and 1/2 months. But Regulus is a large, hot star, surpassing our sun in size and energy. At more than 77 light years' distance, it is nearly 2 billion times farther away than the moon. A trip to Regulus at 50 mph would take about one billion years!
• Look for the waxing crescent moon near the star Regulus tonight!