Leo Minor was introduced by the Polish astronomer Johannes Hevelius in 1687. The brightest star is Praecipua (46 Leo Minoris) which means "chief" and is magnitude 3.8, and the other stars are all fourth or fifth magnitude, so it is hardly visible in Havering. 31 Leo Minoris, the second brightest star, is also Beta Leo Minoris. Francis Baily (of Baily’s Beads fame) decided in 1845 to give letters to stars which hitherto lacked them. In the case of Leo Minor, he failed to label 46 Leo Minoris as Alpha Leo Minoris, although he did list Beta Leo Minoris. There are no deep-sky objects in Leo Minor, but there are a couple of double stars which are worth looking for. 42 Leo Minoris (S 612) [1] is a very wide double of white and bluish stars which are magnitude 5.3 and 7.8; there is a third white star (mag. 8.3) much further out. UU Leo Minoris (STTA 104) [2] is a very wide pair of white stars which are almost identical in brightness (mag. 7.2 and 7.3).

Lynx is another constellation created by Hevelius in 1687. Alpha Lyncis is the brightest star, magnitude 3.1, but the rest are all fourth or fifth magnitude. Even Hevelius admitted it was a difficult constellation to see. There is one bright star in the constellation which has been named by the IAU, Alsciaukat (31 Lyncis). The only deep-sky object in the constellation is an interesting one. NGC 2419 (Caldwell 25) [3] is a globular cluster which was called the Intergalactic Tramp by Harlow Shapley as he regarded as a vagabond travelling between galaxies. While it is even further out than the Magellanic Clouds, being 300,000 light years away, it is gravitationally bound to the Milky Way and is not, strictly speaking, intergalactic. It is only magnitude 10, but can be seen as a tiny blue disc in a five-inch telescope. Fortunately, there is a magnitude 7.2 star (HD 60771), only four arcminutes away, which can be used as a signpost.

There are several good doubles in Lynx, and I will restrict myself to the five best ones. 38 Lyncis is a pair of yellow-white (mag. 3.9) and blue stars (mag. 6.1) which are tight and will need high magnification to be split. It is a binary system with an orbital period of roughly 2,800 years. Struve (STF) 1009 [4] is a close binary double with white stars which are almost equally bright (mag. 6.9 and 7.0). Above STF 1009 is 19 Lyncis [5] which is another tight pair. The stars are both yellow (despite being A type stars) and magnitude 5.4 and 6.0. To the north-west of STF 1009 is Struve (STF) 958 [6], a double comprised of yellow-white stars which are equally bright (mag. 6.3). Finally, in the west of the constellation is 12 Lyncis [7], a very tight pairing of two yellow stars, which are magnitude 5.4 and 6.0, with a wider third blue star (mag. 7.1) above them; they form a triple star system.

The above four images are schematic representations