The constellation Taurus is one of the 13 constellations of the zodiac through which the Sun passes each year. It lies between the constellations Gemini on its left and Aries on its right. The main stars that make it up are Aldebaran and Elnath. Two meteor showers are associated with it: the Southern Taurids and the Northern Taurids, which are active from September 25 to November 25.
In Greek mythology, the constellation Taurus represented the bovine form that Zeus took to kidnap Europa. Another legend tells how the constellation represents the white bull that Poseidon sent to Minos.
Taurus is visible in both the northern and southern hemispheres. In the northern hemisphere, the constellation can be seen during the fall and winter months. In the southern hemisphere, Taurus can be seen from late spring and throughout the summer, but keep in mind that it will appear upside down. Taurus is one of the largest constellations in the night sky.
Cave paintings suggest that Stone Age man recognized the constellation as a bull more than 10,000 years ago. The red giant Aldebaran is the brightest star in the constellation, more than 500 times brighter than the sun.
In Latin, taurus means bull.
The Crab Nebula and the Pleiades star cluster are located within the boundaries of the constellation. The Taurus meteor shower is named after Taurus, as they appear to emanate from the direction of the constellation in mid-autumn. Taurus is an ancient constellation based on 3,000-year-old Babylonian observations of the night sky.
Main stars of the Taurus constellation
Aldebaran
Also known as Alpha Tauri, Aldebaran is about 65 light-years from Earth and is the brightest star in the constellation. It is a red giant star about 45 times the diameter of our sun.
Elnath
Also known as Beta Tauri, as the star lies on the border between Taurus and Auriga and is sometimes referred to as Gamma Aurigae, Elnath is a blue giant star about 130 light-years from Earth.
The Crab Nebula, also known as M1, is the result of a massive supernova explosion that was witnessed by astronomers in the Far East in the 11th century; nebulae born in such a violent manner are known as supernova remnants. The Crab Nebula is vast, perhaps 10 light-years in diameter, and is located about 6,000 light-years from Earth.
Pleiades
Also known as M45 or the Seven Sisters, the Pleiades is a cluster of stars that can be seen with the naked eye. The cluster is made up of young, extremely bright stars that began to form around 100 million years ago. At a distance of around 400 light-years, it is one of the closest star clusters to Earth. The Pleiades contains hundreds of stars and is over 10 light-years in diameter.
Finding Taurus – Northern Hemisphere
The table shows the position of Taurus in most of the United States in midwinter at 6 p.m. This table can also be applied to other areas of the northern hemisphere such as Canada, the United Kingdom, and Europe.
Taurus rises in the east and sets in the west. From October to November, the constellation will appear low in the eastern night sky around 10 p.m. and will continue westward until dawn around 6 to 7 a.m. In December to January, it will first appear in the northeastern sky around 6 p.m. before dipping below the horizon in the northwest around 4 to 6 a.m. From February to March, it will appear almost directly overhead around 7 p.m. before disappearing below the horizon between midnight and 2 a.m.
Finding Taurus – Southern Hemisphere
The table shows the position of Taurus over most of Australia in mid-summer at 10 p.m. This table can also be applied to other areas of the southern hemisphere such as New Zealand, South Africa, and South America.
In the southern hemisphere, Taurus rises in the northeast and sets in the northwest. In December and January, the constellation will first appear low on the horizon in the northeast around 10 p.m. and continue westward before dipping below the horizon around 6 a.m. From February to March, it will appear in a more northerly or northwestern direction when night falls between 9 and 10 p.m. and disappear below the horizon between 1 and 2 a.m.
The brightest stars in Taurus
The brightest star in Taurus is Alpha Taurus, also known as Aldebaran. Aldebaran is an orange supergiant. Its name comes from the Arabic “Al-de-baran,” meaning “main star,” because it appears to lead the nearby star cluster Pleiades across the sky. Aldebaran is slightly more massive than the Sun and many times larger. It has run out of hydrogen fuel in its core and is expanding as the core begins to convert helium.
The two “horn” stars of Taurus are called Beta and Zeta Tauri, also known as El Nath and Tianguan, respectively. Beta is a bright white star, while Zeta is a binary star. From our vantage point on Earth, we can see each of the two stars in Zeta eclipse each other every 133 days.
The constellation Taurus is also known for the Taurus meteor showers. Two separate events, the Northern and Southern Taurids, occur in late October and early November. The southern shower is the product of objects left behind by Comet Encke, while the Northern Taurids are created when materials from Comet 2004 TG10 flow through Earth’s atmosphere and vaporize.
Deep sky objects in Taurus
The constellation Taurus has a number of interesting deep-sky objects. Perhaps the best known is the Pleiades star cluster. This cluster is a collection of several hundred stars, but only the seven brightest can be seen without a telescope or binoculars. The Pleiades are young, hot blue stars moving through a cloud of gas and dust. They will continue to travel together for a few hundred million years before dispersing across the galaxy, each on its own path.
The Hyades, another star cluster in Taurus, form the V shape of the bull’s face. The stars in the Hyades form a spherical grouping, with the brightest ones making up the V. They are mostly older stars, moving together through the galaxy in an open cluster. It is likely to “break up” into the distant figure, with each of its stars traveling along a separate path from the others. As the stars age, they will eventually die, causing the cluster to evaporate in several hundred million years.
The other interesting deep-sky object in Taurus is the Crab Nebula, located near the horns of the bull. The Crab is a remnant of a supernova left over from the explosion of a giant star more than 7,500 years ago. The light from the explosion reached Earth in 1055 AD. The star that exploded was at least nine times the mass of the Sun and may have been even more massive.
The Crab Nebula is not visible to the naked eye, but it can be seen through a good telescope. The best images have come from observatories such as the Hubble Space Telescope and the Chandra X-ray Observatory.
Mythology of Taurus
The constellation Taurus has been known since at least the Early Bronze Age, when it marked the location of the Sun during the spring equinox. It has been associated with the bull in many cultures and mythologies, including Greek and Egyptian, and even as far back as ancient Babylon.
Depictions of Taurus and the Pleiades star cluster have even been found in a cave painting at Lascaux, dating back to 15,000 BC. Both the constellation and the Pleiades have been known in many indigenous cultures and are known as the bull and the seven sisters, indicating a common origin of the names.
In Greek mythology, Taurus is often associated with Zeus, who took the form of a bull to seduce and kidnap Europa, the beautiful daughter of the Phoenician king Agenor. Zeus mingled with the king’s herd and, being the most handsome bull of all, caught Europa’s attention. The princess admired the bull, and when she sat on his back, he rose and headed for the sea. Zeus took Europa to the island of Crete, where he revealed his true identity and showered the princess with gifts.
The two had three children together, including Minos, who grew up to become the famous king of Crete, who built the palace at Knossos, where bullfights were held, and who also sacrificed seven young boys and girls to the Minotaur each year. Zeus later commemorated the bull by placing it among the stars.
An alternative interpretation associates Taurus with the nymph Io, from whose line Europa descended, who was also seduced by Zeus and then transformed into a heifer when the two were almost captured by Hera.
Babylonian astronomers called the constellation MUL.APIN, or “The Heavenly Bull.” In the Epic of Gilgamesh, one of the earliest literary works of Mesopotamia, Gilgamesh faces the Bull of Heaven sent by the goddess Ishtar to kill the hero after he rejected her advances.
Gilgamesh is sometimes associated with nearby Orion, another ancient constellation, and the two constellations are depicted as Gilgamesh and the bull in combat.
The constellation Taurus is visible to sky watchers from late October to early November. It is one of the few constellations that looks somewhat like its name, although it is a stick figure. It contains a number of fascinating stars and other objects to explore.
Look for Taurus in the sky along the ecliptic, near the constellations Orion and Aries. It looks like a V-shaped pattern of stars with long horns extending across the sky.
