Taurus Constellation Facts: Interesting Details Revealed For Kids!

Taurus, the bull, may be seen charging through the northern winter sky.

It is one of the earliest constellations, and it was used to identify the Sun around the spring equinox in the Early Bronze Age. The bull is the emblem of this constellation.

The earliest known and most easily recognizable constellation in the sky is the bull. Mentions of the constellation, Taurus, date back to the early Bronze Age. The constellation, Taurus, is well known for its giant star, Aldebaran, as well as the Pleiades star clusters.

Taurus is a constellation located to the right (west) of Orion. It depicts a snorting bull and a legendary hunter from Greek folklore. It is the 17th largest constellation in the night sky. Its brightest star, Aldebaran (alpha Tauri), symbolizes the Bull's Eye and is situated 65 light-years away.

Taurus is the gorgeous white bull that the god Zeus turned himself into in order to kidnap Europa, Princess of Phoenicia, according to Greek mythology. He seduced her in Crete, and she gave birth to a child who became King Minos, Crete's first ruler.

In another version of the narrative, Taurus represents the magnificent bull that Minos neglected to offer to Poseidon, who punished the king by making the king's wife, Queen Pasiphae, fall in love with the beast and mate with it, giving birth to the Minotaur.

Location In The Sky

The bull may be seen in the sky from November to March in the Northern Hemisphere, although it is most clear in January. Taurus has a total area of 797 square degrees.

Taurus is visible to viewers between the latitudes of +90 degrees and -65 degrees, and although it is positioned in the northern sky, it is visible to spectators south of the equator during the southern summer.

Look for Taurus to the northeast of Orion and to the southwest of Perseus, or look for the renowned Pleiades star cluster midway along the back of the bull, where it looks to be stuck between Taurus and Aries.

Taurus is most visible in the northern hemisphere during the early spring, fall and winter months, while it may be seen in the southern hemisphere during the spring and summer. From northern latitudes, Taurus emerges in the east just after sunset from October through to November.

It then rises in height between December and January, peaking during the first part of January, making this the finest month to study the constellation.

Aside from the Hyades star cluster, which some observers believe shows the face and horns of a bull, the image of a bovine in the sky is not easily discernible.

In fact, if it weren't for the two brilliant stars, Aldebaran and Elnath, which represent the 'chest' and 'head' of the monster, the 'Bull' would be invisible to all but the most vivid imaginations.

Taurus includes a large number of various star systems, as well as numerous brilliant and massive stars. Some of the constellation's brightest stars are listed here.

In the Taurus constellation, Aldebaran (Alpha Tauri) is the brightest star. Alpha Tauri is also the 13th brightest star in the entire sky.

It is an orange giant star that is more than 44 times larger than the Sun. The primary star is 425 times brighter, with an apparent visual magnitude ranging between 0.75 and 0.95. However, Aldebaran appears to be the brightest star in the Hyades cluster.

It is really a foreground star relative to the cluster, which is around 150 light-years away. Aldebaran can be hidden by the Moon.

Elnath (Beta Tauri) is the second brightest star in the constellation of Taurus, among other bright stars. It is a blue giant star that is 131 light-years away from Earth. It is at least 700 times brighter than the Sun and has an apparent visual magnitude of 1.68. Elnath, like Aldebaran, can be hidden by the Moon.

The third brightest star in the constellation of Taurus, Alcyone (Eta Tauri), is formed of multiple systems around 440 light-years from our solar system with an absolute magnitude of 2.87. Alcyone A is a blue-white giant 10 times larger than the Sun, six times more heavy, and 2,400 times brighter.

Its nearest binary partner is 0.031 arcseconds away, providing the duo an orbital period of about four days. Alcyone is the brightest star in the Pleiades open cluster, and its name comes from the Greek for The Central One.

Pectus Tauri (Lambda Tauri) is a triple star system with an apparent visual magnitude of 3.47 that is situated around 480 light-years away. Lambda Tauri, the triple star, is a blue-white giant star roughly six times larger than the Sun, seven times more massive, and at least 5,800 times brighter.

It has a near binary partner, with the total apparent brightness of the eclipsing binary system ranging between 3.37 and 3.91 throughout their 3.95-day orbital cycle.

With equatorial rotational velocities of 52.8 mi per sec (85 km per sec) and 47.2 mi per sec (76 km per sec), respectively, both stars are fast spinners.

Tau C is a third component that circles the inner pair every 33 days. In Lain, Pectus Tauri means the bull's chest.

Theta Tauri is notable for its size and for being the second reddest star in the night sky, behind Mu Cephei (the Garnet Star) in Cepheus. 119 Tauri is a red supergiant located around 1,800 light years away with an apparent visual magnitude that fluctuates gradually over a period of 165 days from 4.32 to 4.54.

It is 600 times larger than the Sun, 14 times heavier, and 44,000 times brighter.

In astrology, the Sun passes the constellation, Taurus, from April 21 to May 21, whereas in astronomy, the Sun passes the constellation from May 14 to June 19, roughly one month later.

Taurus is one of the oldest constellations, having a history extending back through thousands of years of ancient civilizations. The renowned 16,500-year-old chart on a cave wall in France at Lascaux is said to portray all the stars of Taurus and the Pleiades.

It proves that the constellation was recognized as Taurus, the bull, 15,000 years ago in the deep sky objects. Around 150 AD, Ptolemy cataloged Taurus as a zodiacal constellation.

Details On The Brightest Star Of Taurus

Aldebaran, a red giant star, is 65 light-years away from Earth. According to scientists, it is the brightest star in the constellation and the 14th brightest star in the sky.

Aldebaran is also part of the Hyades, a V-shaped asterism or collection of stars that makes up the bull's face.

The orange-hued Aldebaran is sometimes shown as staring towards Orion, the hunter, a constellation immediately to the star's southwest. According to NASA, the planetary probe Pioneer 10 is traveling in the approximate direction of that star and will make its closest pass by Aldebaran in around 2 million years.

The Pleiades cluster comprises seven stars that rest on the bull's shoulder. It is the constellation's other prominent star cluster, in addition to the Hyades.

These stars are thought to represent the Seven Sisters of Greek mythology, the daughters of Atlas and Pleione. The Pleiades were studied by NASA's Kepler space observatory to study the solar system.

Astronomers discovered that six of the seven sisters are variable B stars, which vary brightness over the course of a day. The Pleiades may be viewed with the naked eye, however, the amount of stars seen varies depending on your vision and the surrounding circumstances.

Messier 1, often known as the Crab Nebula, is located in the northwest corner of Taurus. It's just above the lower horn of the bull. The Crab Nebula is a supernova remnant.

Other Star Names Of Taurus

There are many stories related to the naming of the constellation. The most famous is Greek.

The constellation of Taurus was one of the 48 constellations cataloged in the second century by the Greek astronomer Ptolemy. Its name translates to 'bull' in Latin. It is an ancient constellation that dates back to the Bronze Age and was used to designate the location of the Sun during the spring equinox.

Bordering Constellations Of Taurus

 Beta Tauri and Zeta Tauri are two-star systems separated by eight degrees. These create the bull's two horns to the east. El Nath is a white, spectral class B7 III massive star known as Beta. The name originates from the Arabic term for butting.

It is the second brightest star in the constellation, with a brightness of 1.65. It shares a boundary with the adjacent constellation of Auriga, Gamma Tauri. Zeta Tauri is an eclipsing double star that orbits the Sun once every 133 days.