One of the most ancient constellations. Taurus has been known to people throughout the world since the dawn of civilisation, for the bull’s attributes of strength and fertility mean that it has always held an honoured place in ceremony and religion.
Usually only
the head of the bull is depicted, its face being formed by the V shaped cluster
of stars known as the Hyades. Its glinting red eye is marked by the star
Aldebaran, and its long horns are tipped by the stars beta and zeta. In
addition to the Hyades, Taurus contains the celebrated cluster of the Pleiades
or Seven Sisters.
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Alpha,
Aldebaran which means the ‘follower of the Pleiades’ is a K class giant with a
temperature of 3,800’C, it is a variable star and varies between magnitude 0.7
and 0.9, Aldebaran lies 65 light years away
Beta El Nath
which means the ‘butting one’, in the times of ancient Greece the star was
shared by both Taurus and Auriga but since 1930 it has been permanently
transferred to Taurus, its magnitude is
1.7, it is a class B class giant with a temperature of 13,500’C and is
134 light years away.
Zeta lies
440 light years away, it’s a B class giant with a temperature of 15,500’C, it
has a magnitude of 3.0.
Gamma Prima
Hyadum is the first of the Hyades, with a magnitude 3.6, lying 154 light years
away. Gamma is a G class giant with a temperature of 4,600’C
The Hyades
is a large and bright open cluster of about 200 stars. The brightest members
form a noticeable V shape, easily visible to the naked eye. In mythology the
Hyades were the daughters of Atlas and Aethyra, and half-sisters to the
Pleiades. Some people think that Aldebaran is a member but while Aldebaran is
65 light years away The Hyades are about 150 light years away.
The Pleiades
also known as the seven sisters is the brightest and most famous star cluster
in the sky, it is listed as M45. In mythology the seven sisters are named after
a group of nymphs the daughters of Atlas and Pleione. About 7 can be seen by
keen eyed people but there are about 250 stars in the group. The seven sisters
are about 430 light years away.
In Taurus
occurred the famous supernova that was seen from Earth in 1054, which gave rise
to the Crab Nebula, M1. This is the celebrated Crab Nebula named by Lord Rosse
in 1844 using the 72 in telescope. No one is sure why he thought it looked like
a crab. At the centre of the nebula is a neutron star.
Between epsilon and omega lies NGC
1555 the faint Hind’s variable Nebula, discovered in October 1852 by the
English astronomer John Russell Hind; at the centre of this nebula lies the
star T Tauri, a prototype of a class of irregular variable stars believed to be
stars in the process of forming into stars. It lies at a distance of 400 light
years and varies between magnitude 9.4 to 13.0.
