Algieba
Gamma Leonis — the Lion's mane, two golden suns circling as one light
- Position (J2000)
- 29°37′ Leo
- Magnitude
- 2.01 (combined)
- Colour
- Golden orange
- Spectrum
- K0 III + G7 III
- Distance
- ~130 light-years
- Nature
- Saturn · Mercury
In the sky
Algieba is the second-brightest star of the Sickle of Leo, just above Regulus in the curve of the Lion's head and mane, and it is one of the most beautiful double stars in the sky. Two golden giants, one orange and one yellow, circle each other about four seconds of arc apart, close enough that the eye sees one star of the second magnitude and a small telescope opens them into a matched pair of warm lights. They are about a hundred and thirty light-years away and take some five hundred years to go once around each other. The brighter has a planet of its own, found in 2009, nearly nine times the mass of Jupiter.
The name comes from the Arabic al-jabhah, the forehead, which properly belongs to the whole group of stars that makes the tenth mansion, with Regulus at its base; the Latin astronomers heard juba, a mane, in it, and the star has been the Lion's mane ever since. In the frame this site uses it stands inside the tenth mansion, the Forehead, a little above its royal neighbour.
The myth
The Lion is the Nemean beast that Heracles strangled, set in the sky with its hide unbroken, and the Sickle is its head and the heavy mane that falls from it. Ptolemy gives the stars of the Lion's neck the nature of Saturn and Mercury, which is an unexpected pairing for a star so warm to look at: gravity and intelligence, the mind of the king rather than his heart.
The two golden suns are the star's own addition to the file. Algieba is a partnership of equals in royal colours, two lights of almost the same warmth bound together for centuries, and in a chart it speaks of dignified companionship, of counsel held in common, of the mane that is the sign of a lion come to full age. Where Regulus is the king, Algieba is the king's grey-haired counsellor, and also the king's queen.
What it gives
- Golden partnership Two lights of equal warmth. The native forms bonds in which neither party is lesser, and the bond itself has a dignity that others notice.
- The counsellor's mind Saturn with Mercury in a royal place: judgement offered to power, the advice that kings take, the long view held beside the throne.
- Maturity worn well The mane is the sign of the grown lion. The native comes into their own with age and carries the years as an ornament rather than a weight.
- Warmth under gravity A serious star that looks golden. The native's seriousness is felt by others as warmth, and their counsel is taken because it is kind.
What to watch for
- The counsellor who would be king Advice given from beside the throne that begins to resent the throne; the mane that wishes it were the crown.
- Two suns, one orbit A partnership so bound that five centuries would not part it, kept past the point where it serves either light.
- Gravity without the gold Saturn uppermost: counsel that has cooled into judgement, and a seriousness no longer felt as warm.
- Waiting for the mane A life deferred to the maturity the star promises; the native who does not act until they feel grown, and feels grown late.
How to work with it
The native does well to be content as counsellor where counsel is the gift, and to take the throne only where it is truly theirs; the two are different seats and the star sits better in the first.
Golden partnership is kept golden by room: each light with a circle of its own, so that the long orbit is chosen each year rather than merely continued.
The gold is kept by curiosity. A question asked warms a judgement, and the native who stays interested in people remains kind in their seriousness. Maturity is best treated as something already present in small measure, and used, rather than a condition waited for.
In brief
Algieba is the Lion's mane and a pair of golden suns: partnership of equals, the counsellor's mind, maturity worn well, warmth under gravity. Its difficulties are the mane's, the counsellor who would be king, an orbit kept past its use, gravity that has lost its gold, and a life deferred until the native feels grown. The placement works best where counsel is given from the right seat and the gold is kept warm by curiosity.