Taurus (Constellation)
Contents
Image: Constellation Taurus
Credit: K. R. Carr/Stellarium
Overview
Taurus, The Bull, is a large constellation in the winter sky of the northern hemisphere. Its brightest star is Aldebaran the bull's bloodshot eye.
Named stars
Aldebaran (Alpha Tauri / α Tau)
With an apparent magnitude of 0.85 this is the brightest star in Taurus. Aldebaran has a spectral class of K5 and is an orange-red giant. Together with the Hyades it forms part of a 'V-shaped' asterism of stars which represent the bull's head. Although Aldebaran appears to be part of the Hyades it is actually a lot closer to us than the open star cluster.
Elnath (Beta Tauri / β Tau) (also Gamma Aurigae / γ Aur)
Elnath is the second brightest star in Taurus and 25th brightest star in the night sky. Elnath is unusual as it straddles the Taurus/Auriga constellation border and also has the designation Gamma Aurigae, although this is rarely used.
Hyadum I (Gamma Tauri / γ Tau)
A K0-class star of the 4th magnitude and part of the Hyades star cluster.
Hyadum II (or Eudora) (Delta1 Tauri / δ1 Tau)
A 4th magnitude member of the Hyades cluster and, along with delta2 and delta3 Tauri, it is one of a group three stars with the designation delta Tauri.
Cleeia (or Kleeia) (Delta3 Tauri / δ3 Tau)
A triple star system of the Hyades star cluster comprising of a Delta3 Tauri A, an A-class subgiant, Delta3 Tauri B, a close binary companion, and Delta3 Tauri C, an 11th magnitude component.
Ain (Epsilon Tauri / ε Tau)
A G9.5-class star of the 4th magnitude and part of the Hyades star cluster. Ain has an 11thmagnitude companion, although it is not known if this is merely an optical double or a true bianry system. Ain is also known to have a planet with a mass no less than 7.6 times that of Jupiter.
Alcyone (Eta Tauri / η Tau)
A B7-class star of the 3rd magnitude and part of the Pleiades star cluster. Alcyone has a close binary companion.
Open Clusters
Hyades (Caldwell 41)
This cluster of stars of stars forms the 'V-shaped' head of the bull. The star Aldebaran also belongs to this 'V-shaped' asterism but is not a true member of the Hyades cluster. The Hyades is about 625 million years old and is 152ly from Earth.
M45 (The Pleiades or Seven Sisters)
The Pleiades are probably the most well known of star clusters. Resembling a small version of 'The Plough', this cluster contains several hundreds of stars and is around 100 million years old.
NGC 1647
An open cluster with an apparent magnitude of 6.4
NGC 1746
An open cluster of about 20 stars with an apparent magnitude of 6.1
NGC 1750
An open cluster which overlaps NGC 1746
NGC 1758
An open cluster which overlaps NGC 1746
NGC 1807
An open cluster with an apparent magnitude of 7.0
NGC 1817
An open cluster with an apparent magnitude of 7.7
Nebulae
Crab Nebula (M1 / NGC 1952)
A supernova remnant of a star which was seen to explode by Chinese astronomers in the year 1054. It has an apparent magnitude of 8.4
Simeis 147 or Spaghetti Nebula
A large but faint remnant of a star which went supernova around 30000 years ago. Simeis 147 is quite large covering 3 degrees in the sky. J0538+2817 is a pulsar which was created by the supernova explosion.
NGC 1514 (Crystal Ball Nebula)
A planetary nebula first observed by William Herschel who described it as 'A most singular phenomenon'. The nebula contains a star which is possibly a binary and is surrounded by a nebulosity. It has an apparent magnitude 9.43
NGC 1554 (Struve's Lost Nebula)
A bright emission/reflection nebula, possibly the same object as NGC 1555.
NGC 1555 (Hind's Variable Nebula)
A bright emission/reflection nebula, possibly the same object as NGC 1554.
IC 353
A bright emission/reflection nebula located just north-east of M45.
IC 2087
A reflection nebula.
Barnard 22
A dark nebula that surrounds IC 2087.
T Tauri
T Tauri is a very young variable star, only about 1 million years old. T Tauri is the prototype for other T Tauri type stars.
Bordering Constellations
The constellation of Taurus shares its borders with the following constellations: Orion, Gemini, Auriga, Perseus, Aries, Cetus and Eridanus.
Astronomical symbol
The Astronomical symbol for the constellation Taurus is represented by the Unicode character '♉'
