#lepus

English edition of Silhouette of the Moon Rabbit, a spin-off of the beloved Silhouette of the Sea Breeze, is now available on ebook stores!

Google Play

Apple Books

Amazon Kindle (US / CA / UK / AU / JP)

…and many others. Please enjoy!

Lepus, which is Latin for "hare," is one of the original 48 constellations described by Greek astronomer Ptolemy in the 2nd century. Sitting in between much brighter constellations, it doesn't have any particular mythology associated with it, although it is sometimes described as a hare being chased by one of Orion's hunting dogs.

Despite that obscurity, there are several named stars in Lepus:

Arneb (α Leporis) is the brightest star in Lepus, it being a yellow supergiant star about 2,200 light years away. This star is over 100 times larger than the Sun! Its name comes from the Arabic word arnab meaning "hare."

Nihal (β Leporis) is a yellow giant star about 160 light years away. Its name refers to the Arabic constellation nihal, a group of stars known as "The Camels Quenching Their Thirst."

Ping (ε Leporis) is an orange giant star about 209 light years away. Its name comes from the Chinese asterism ping (屏) representing the screen in front of a toilet. Yep. You read that right.

Bade (μ Leporis) is a blue giant star about 170 light years away. This is a chemically peculiar star: it has an overabundance of manganese and mercury in its atmosphere compared to other stars of the same type. Its name comes from Bali astronomy: Bade is the name of this constellation, being a funeral tower.

Bonus little art that didn't turn out how I wanted it to and that I never finished, but posting it here anyways! (May or may not redo it later on)