Taurus (constellation)

Taurus is a constellation in the northern sky. "Taurus" means "bull" in Latin. It is a constellation of the zodiac, which means that it crosses the ecliptic. The astronomer named Ptolemy listed Taurus when he made a list of 48 constellations. It is one of the 88 modern constellations that were made by the International Astronomical Union.

Taurus
Constellation
List of stars in Taurus
AbbreviationTau
GenitiveTauri
Pronunciation
  • /ˈtɔːrəs/ TOR-əs
  • genitive /ˈtɔːr/ TOR-eye
Symbolismthe Bull
Right ascension4.9
Declination19
QuadrantNQ1
Area797 sq. deg. (17th)
Main stars19
Bayer/Flamsteed
stars
132
Stars with planets7 candidates
Stars brighter than 3.00m4
Stars within 10.00 pc (32.62 ly)1
Brightest starAldebaran (α Tau) (0.85m)
Messier objects2
Meteor showers
  • Taurids
  • Beta Taurids
Bordering
constellations
Visible at latitudes between +90° and −65°.
Best visible at 21:00 (9 p.m.) during the month of January.
Map of the constellation

The star clusters Pleiades and Hyades are in Taurus. Taurus also contains the Crab Nebula, which is a supernova remnant. The brightest star in Taurus is a red giant star called Aldebaran.

References

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