OOOO
| Abbreviation: Tau |
| English Name: The Bull |
| Genitive: Aldebaran |
| Hemisphere: Northern and Southern Hemisphere. (Bold 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 (map) |
| Seen between: October and March |
| Right Ascension (RA): 04 hour |
| Declination (DEC): +15 degrees |
| Area (square degrees): 797 (17th) |
OOOO
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.
o - In the sky, the Hyades Cluster marks the bull’s face, while the red giant star (Aldebaran) forms the creature’s bloodshot eye.
o - Our Sun passes through Taurus from 14 May to 21st June every year.
OOOO
OOOO
Messier Objects in Taurus
| 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 conditions, the reflection nebulosity around Merope (NGC 1435) may be glimpsed with large binoculars. (photo: [1] / [2] ) |
| . |
Messier Objects in Taurus
| Select Catalog | No of Objects |
| Barnard (B) | 22x objects |
| Caldwell (C) | 1x object |
| Collinder (Cr) | 6x objects |
| New General Catalogue (NGC) | 48x objects |
| Index Catalogue (IC) | 44x objects |
| Sharpless (Sh2) | 9x objects |
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 (see below) appears to be a member, but is in fact much closer to us and not part of the cluster.
oooo
OOOO
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)
- more list of stars in Taurus
oooo
oooo
Planetarium
| Live constellation visible from the UK :- Taurus | Seen between: October and March | Best Seen: January (map) |
IAU Sky Chart: Taurus
OOOO
Constellations – Visible from the UK
OOOO
Parts visible from the UK
| Antlia | Columba | Eridanus | Fornax | Microscopium | ||
| Piscis Austrinus | Puppis | Pyxis | Sagittarius | Scorpius | ||
| Sculptor |
oooo
Constellations: Southern Celestial Hemisphere
…..– never seen from the UK
oooo
oooo
Back to …Constellation Names
OOOO