Locate the Plough (aka Saucepan), which is almost overhead near to midnight. Viewing it as a saucepan, identify the two stars in the pan nearest the handle. Extend the line they make down from the saucepan and eventually you’ll arrive at Regulus, the brightest star in Leo, the Lion. Above Regulus, the lion’s head is represented by a backward question mark of stars known as the Sickle. The lion’s body is a rectangular shape to the east, or left, of the Sickle, while its tail is marked by a pointed triangle formed by the eastern side of the rectangle and the middle-bright star Denebola.
Legend has it that this wasn’t the original end of Leo’s tail. A story tells that Queen Berenice II of Egypt was so concerned about her husband King Ptolemy III Euergetes coming back from battle safely, that she vowed to sacrifice her beautiful flowing hair to the gods in exchange for his safe return. He did return safely and she lived up to her side of the bargain. Problem was, the King wasn’t happy that his wife had cut off her hair. In her desperation, she turned to the court astronomers for help. They concocted a story that the hair had been collected by the gods and placed in the heavens. The area they chose to represent the hair was the original tuft at the end of Leo’s tail.