Taurus
Taurus, holding the red eye Aldebaran and the Pleiades cluster. The bull into which Zeus transformed himself charges across the winter sky.
Science
The scienceThe chief star Aldebaran is the red giant that marks the bull's fiery eye, reaching about 44 times the Sun's diameter. On the bull's shoulder gleams the "Pleiades cluster" (M45), where even the naked eye can pick out six or seven stars huddled close, though in truth it is an open cluster of hundreds of young blue stars born together. The V-shaped "Hyades cluster" that forms the face is the nearest open cluster to Earth. Aldebaran in fact lies far in front of the Pleiades and merely happens to overlap them by chance, unrelated to the cluster.
Mythology
How it became a constellationZeus, smitten with Europa, the beautiful princess of Phoenicia, transformed himself into a gentle white bull. When the unwary princess climbed onto his back, the bull dashed across the sea to the island of Crete, where he revealed his true form. Their son Minos later became king of Crete, and Zeus set this bull in the sky as a winter constellation. The celestial bull is drawn with only its upper half, said to be its body submerged as it swims across the sea.
Observing Guide
how to observe🔭 How to find it
On a winter evening, extend Orion's Belt up to the right (west) to reach the red first-magnitude star Aldebaran — the bull's eye. Around Aldebaran the stars form a V that outlines the bull's face, and continuing farther west you come upon the Pleiades, a tight little cluster of stars like a small dipper. This cluster of "seven sisters" marks the bull's shoulder and, with six or seven stars bunched visibly to the naked eye, pinpoints the location at a glance.
✨ What to look for
The "Pleiades" (M45) on the bull's shoulder appear as a knot of stars to the naked eye and, through binoculars, become a breathtaking scatter of blue stars — the most beautiful open cluster in the night sky. The "Hyades," forming the V of the face, is the nearest open cluster to Earth. Near the tip of the bull's horn (the star Zeta) lies the "Crab Nebula" (M1), the remnant of a supernova recorded in 1054.
📍 Where to see it (US · Canada · UK · Australia)
From the US, Canada and UK, Taurus stands high in the southern sky on winter evenings (November–February), the Pleiades riding almost overhead before it sinks into the western dusk by May. From Australia the bull appears in the northern sky, upside down and moderately high, during the southern summer, with the Pleiades and Hyades still easy naked-eye clusters.