Full Moon in Leo – Feb. 1, 2026, 22:09 UT
The Full Moon in Leo occurs in the same degree with plutino Achlys, one of the large trans-Neptunian bodies named last summer.
208996 Achlys was discovered on Jan. 13, 2003, by Chad Trujillo and Michael Brown. Its shape is elongated and it has one known moon. Achlys is a third-largest known plutino after Pluto and Orcus. It has a mean diameter of about 770 kilometers and it is approximately 940 kilometers across its longest axis. The orbital period is 247.8 years.
Achlys was named on June 30, 2025, after the goddess of sorrow and grief. In Hesiod’s Shield of Heracles Achlys is one of the figures described as being depicted on Heracles’ shield, where she is understood as being the personification of sorrow or grief. Homer used the word achlys to describe a mist that is “shed” upon a mortal’s eyes, often while dying.
Nonnus, a notable Greek epic poet, regarded Achlys as a kind of witch. His Dionysiaca describes the life of Dionysus. Zeus had instructed twelve rustic spirits of the Lamos river to guard and protect the infant Dionysus from Hera’s wrath. According to Nonnus, Hera “procured from Thessalian Achlys treacherous flowers of the field”, which she used to sprinkle a sleeping charm over their heads, then “she distilled poisoned drugs over their hair and smeared a magical ointment over their faces”, changing them into ox-horned Lamian centaurs.
