Taurus

Abbreviation:  Tau
English Name:  The Bull
Genitive: Aldebaran
Hemisphere:  Northern / Southern Hemisphere (Underlined means the more area in square feet in Southern Hemisphere.)
Location: Between the constellations of Orion and Aries.
Visible between latitudes:  +90 and -65 degrees
Best season: Winter
Seen in three seasons: Autumn, Winter and Spring
Best seen in:  January 
Seen between: October and March.
Right Ascension (RA):  04 hour
Declination (DEC):  +15 degrees
Area (square degrees):  797 (17th)

Taurus  (The Bull)

• Just northwest of Orion, Taurus is an outstanding northern constellation containing two of the largest Open Clusters – The Hyades and The Pleiades, also known as The Seven Sisters -both striking groups of stars.
• In the sky, the Hyades Cluster marks the bull’s face, while the red giant star (Aldebaran) forms the creature’s bloodshot eye.
• Our Sun passes through Taurus from 14 May to 21st June every year.

Messier Objects

• M1  –  Supernova remnant; it was seen from Earth in AD 1054 – detectable in binoculars under good conditions, rather faint (around magnitude: +9.0).
• M45  – Open Cluster; also known as Messier 45 (M45), Seven Sisters or The Pleiades, large and bright – easy to see with the naked-eye and superb sight through binoculars. Under perfect condition, the reflection nebulosity around Merope (NGC 1435) maybe glimpsed with large binoculars.

Features of Interest

• Hyades  –  Open Cluster; known as Melotte 25 (Mel25), the second closest open cluster, stars appears spread over a considerable area of the sky and its moving cluster – the star Aldebaran appears to be a member, but is in fact much closer to us and not part of the cluster.

 

Named Stars

• Aldebaran (Alpha Tau)
• Alnath (Beta Tau)
• Hyadum I (Gamma Tau)
• Hyadum II (Delta 1 Tau)
• Ain (Epsilon Tau)
• Alcyone (Eta Tau)
• Celaeno (16 Tau)
• Electra (17 Tau)
• Taygeta (19 Tau)
• Maia (20 Tau)
• Asterope (21 Tau)
• Sterope II (22 Tau)
• Merope (23 Tau)
• Atlas (27 Tau)
• Pleione (28 Tau)

Others

• Photo of the constellation; Taurus, as it appears to the naked eye. (Lines have been added for clarity.)
• Sky Chart  –  Taurus
• List of stars in Taurus.

 

Back to The 88 Constellations Lists  page.