A constellation is an apparent group of stars seen in the sky and named because of its resemblance to or its position near another object. The word constellation can also refer to an asterism, or a pattern formed by prominent stars within apparent proximity to each other on Earth’s celestial sphere, as determined by the International Astronomical Union (IAU). Taurus has 10 official stars that are incorporated into the list of 88 constellations established by the IAU in 1930.
Facts about the constellation
Taurus is the second constellation in the zodiac, and one of the oldest. It consists of two main stars: Aldebaran, or Alpha Tauri, which is a red giant with a magnitude of 0.87; and Rigel Kentaurus, or Beta Tauri, which is a blue-white supergiant with a magnitude of 1.14. Aldebaran marks the eye of the bull and Rigel marks its shoulder. Betelgeuse, or Alpha Orionis, and Bellatrix are also considered to be part of Taurus since they form Orion’s belt. One interesting fact about this constellation is that it features prominently in the mythological stories of ancient cultures such as the ancient Egyptians and Persians. Taurus was associated with gods like Zeus, Mithras, Bacchus and Dionysus. In many societies around the world there were celebrations around the vernal equinox in honor of Taurus, while in Greece they celebrated at harvest time. These celebrations took place during the beginning of Spring when farmers would plant seeds for crops. In Latin America, people celebrate on May 5th, which is known as Cinco de Mayo in order to commemorate their independence from Spain on May 5th 1810 after fighting for 11 years. In Japan, festivities are held on April 28th to mark Tanabata, which celebrates a love story between the celestial lovers Orihime and Hikoboshi.
Aldebaran is Arabic for the follower. Rigel means foot (paw) of the great bear, referring to Ursa Major. Betelgeuse comes from an Arabic phrase meaning armpit of the great ox. Bellatrix comes from the female version of a Latin word meaning female warrior.
Interesting facts about its brightest star
-The brightest star in the constellation is Aldebaran, a red giant that’s located about 65 light years from Earth.
-It’s one of the four Royal Stars because it was used to help mark out the seasons and assist in navigation by ancient civilizations.
-Aldebaran is a cool star with a surface temperature of 3,100K which makes it an orange-red color. -Its name means the follower or following one in Arabic.
-In April the name Aldebaran has been applied to five stars: α (alpha), β (beta), γ (gamma), δ (delta) and ε (epsilon). In addition, the individual components are designated by Roman numerals as seen below: Iota (ι) = ε, Kappa (κ) = δ, Lambda (λ) = λ & Mu (μ)= μ. These letters refer to the fifth letter of the Greek alphabet so these four stars represent alpha, beta, gamma and delta respectively.
Mizar (ζ) is another bright star in this constellation which also belongs to Mizar and Alcor. They’re sometimes referred to as the horsemen due to their shape and size being similar in appearance. The third brightest star in Taurus is Aldebarran which has a magnitude of 0.94. When comparing the brightness between the different stars within its constellations, Aldebaran ranks 11th on the list just behind Achernar and slightly ahead of Vega. It has a radius about 13 times larger than our own Sun which results in it having roughly 2,000 times more luminosity. It rotates at the same speed as our own Sun and spins at such a fast rate that it actually bulges out at the equator while simultaneously flattening at its poles.
Other bright stars you can see from Earth
There are four main stars that make up the constellation of Taurus. These stars are Aldebaran, Adhara, Elnath and Mesarthim. Aldebaran is an orange giant star located at about 65 light years from Earth. It has a magnitude of 0.8, which means you can see it with your naked eye from Earth! Mesarthim is another very bright star in this constellation. It’s over 3000 light years away but it has a magnitude of 3.5 so you can also see it with your naked eye as well.
Mesarthim orbits around Elnath and they take one year to orbit around each other while they’re only separated by 18 degrees in distance! They will always stay together as a pair because their orbital period matches their separation on Earth. In addition, these two stars have brighter magnitudes than any of the other four that comprise Taurus. Brightness is how we measure brightness for stars. Aldebaran has a brightness of -0.8 and Mesarthim has a brightness of 3.5. So if I were looking at Mesarthim and Aldebaran right now, I would be able to tell them apart just because they would look different colors.
Denebola is another cool star. It’s not technically part of Taurus, but you can still see it from Earth if you know where to look. You might want to find Orion first, then follow his belt down towards the ground until you see Denebola. You might want to use binoculars or a telescope if you don’t spot it easily with your naked eye! The last star that makes up the constellation of Taurus is Antares. You can see Antares from Earth, too! Antares is 550 light years away but it has a magnitude of 1.2 so you’ll be able to see it too. If you put all four of the main stars into order based on their magnitudes, starting with smallest to largest, then they would go: Aldebaran (magnitude: 0.8), Adhara (magnitude: 2.4), Elnath (magnitude: 2.6) and Mesarthim (magnitude: 3.5).
