- by John Hlynialuk

The constellation Orion is especially prominent in the southern nighttime sky in March. The three equally bright, equally spaced stars of Orion's Belt give it away immediately. I have even become familiar with their names (left to right): Alnilam, Alnitak, and Mintaka, -now these tongue-twisters just roll of my tongue. The other two notable stars of Orion are Betelgeuse and Rigel and I refer you to an earlier column with a lot more to say about this constellation and the possibility of Betelgeuse going supernova in our lifetimes.

This time, let's focus on a constellation just below Orion, the much less prominent, Lepus the Hare. Finding Lepus is a bit if a challenge, so pick a dark clear night with no moonlight in the sky. It is also easier in March and April because Lepus is high in the sky just after dark and nicely located beneath the obvious Orion. The star chart provided here shows its stick figure and location to help you find it.

I pointed out Lepus to another stargazer recently after we watched Venus and Mercury set over Lake Huron, and I mistakenly called the constellation a rabbit, -I have since learned better. The Lepus in the sky is a hare, probably a European hare, (Lepus europaeus) found in Europe and parts of Asia, where both hares and rabbits are common.

I have also learned that star stories involving Lepus are very few, -the hare's only claim to mythological fame is being chased by the two dogs Canis Major and Canis Minor, Orion's hunting companions. The Large Dog is easy to pick out with its bright collar star, Sirius, the top of the list of bright stars in the sky. The stars of poor Lepus are pretty pale in comparison but, even this modest constellation has at least one interesting star. More on that later.

The hare in the sky, Lepus, has never been caught by the various dogs on his trail but our star-mapping ancestors recognized that hares had a place of honour on high. Lepus is a tough catch by any but the fastest predators.

Creatures like Peter Rabbit or the Easter Bunny, are a related but much gentler species, -rabbits, not hares. Rabbits (both those in the wild and in children's stories) behave quite differently, -they are easily domesticated and as such, safe for your child to cuddle. Attempt to pet a captive hare and you may lose a finger or get a vicious left or right hook in the face. Boxing is part of their behaviour. Hares are skittish and breeders have not been able to soften their nature, -they behave very nervously both in the wild and in captivity. They are not good pets and are justifiably described by the phrase "mad as the March Hare" especially during breeding season.

Rabbits and hares are found all over the world and in North America, there is a total of 15 species. Among them are the Snowshoe Hare, the Arctic Hare, and the mislabelled Black-tailed Jackrabbit, -all of the Genus Lepus. The bunny we see running around in our backyards is an Eastern Cottontail of the Genus Sylvilagus. Comparing rabbits and hares is like comparing a domestic cat to a lynx, -they may look similar but they are "not the same animal". Hares and rabbits have other differences like den preferences, how they rear their young and their mating practices. Female hares (called "jills") play coy at mating time and often sprint away from the "jacks" using speed to weed out the less desirable genetic material. Rabbits, on the other hand, have a much quieter sex life preferring to, dare I say it, "breed like rabbits" in underground dens.

Lepus, the constellation, is composed of fairly normal stars but there is one that bears watching. The brightest star in Lepus, Arneb, also called Alpha Leporis, is the one in the centre of the figure. This star is nearing the end of its life cycle and is a giant star, like Betelgeuse. Just like Betelgeuse, it is due to go off with a bang as a supernova at some point in the future. Arneb, a safe 2000 light years distant, is no danger to us but can you image if both Betelgeuse and Arneb went off about the same time? We would see a triangle of super-bright stars: Sirius, supernova Betelgeuse and supernova Arneb! If that were to happen this month, it would be a March hair-raising sight! (sorry... it was too bad to resist...)