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Taurus
Constellation:
The Bull
Ursa Major
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Tauri
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Abbreviation Tau
4 stars with known planets
2 Messier Objects
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M1 & M45
2 meteor showers
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Taurids
 Late Oct/early Nov
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Beta Taurids
 June/July
 Tunguska?
Taurus
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One of oldest recognized constellations
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appeared beginning of spring between 4000 and 1800
BC
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signaled start of new year
bull, symbol of strength & fertility
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figures prominently in mythology of nearly all early civilizations
Taurus
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Ancient Egypt
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Apis, Bull of Memphis
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served as earthly vessel of soul of Osiris, god of Sun & Nile
possibly inspiration for Cretan Minotaur
Sumerian sacred “bull of light”
possibly Golden Calf of Israel
Taurus
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Classical Greece: Zeus in disguise of white bull with
golden horns
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seduced & abducted Europa in this form
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swam away with her to Crete; which is why we see only the
forequarters in the constellation
Often thought to be charging Orion
Taurus
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Hyades ‘Υάδες
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these nymphs were sisters, chosen by Zeus to care for
his child Dionysus
Pleiades
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“sailing stars” by Greeks; storms were too likely if they
were not in the sky
Taurus
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Aldebaran (a Tau)
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derived from the Arabic ‫ الدبران‬al-dabarān meaning "the
follower“
closely follows Pleiades cluster across the sky
Taurus
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Aldebaran (a Tau)
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K5 III star
orangish, large
used up all its hydrogen fuel
minor companion (dim M2)
Taurus
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Aldebaran (a Tau)
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K5 III star
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~65 ly away
~38 times diameter of Sun ; ~150 times brighter
14th brightest star; apparent magnitude 0.87
Taurus
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Aldebaran (a Tau)
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astrologically fortunate, portending riches & honor
one of the four “royal stars” of Persians (4000 BC)
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Aldebaran (a Tau)
Regulus (a Leo)
Antares (a Sco)
Fomalhaut (a Pis)
Taurus
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Crab nebula
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M 1/NGC 1952
supernova remnant
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visible in day 1054
China & Middle East
6300 ly away
pulsar in center
Taurus
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Crab nebula
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M 1/NGC 1952
supernova remnant
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visible in day 1054
China & Middle East
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6300 ly away
pulsar in center
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HST & X-ray imagery
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Taurus
Many a night I saw the Pleiads, rising thro’ the mellow shade
Glitter like a swarm of fireflies, tangled in a silver braid.
Tennyson
Taurus
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Pleiades
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M45
open cluster
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~440 ly away
~12 ly across
around 500 stars
dominated by young blue stars
important in distance scales
Taurus
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Pleiades
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Seven Sisters of Greek mythology
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Sterope, Merope, Electra, Maia, Taygete, Celaeno and Alcyone
parents Atlas and Pleione
as daughters of Atlas, Hyades were sisters of the Pleiades
Taurus
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Pleiades
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Comet Machholz passes the Pleiades early 2005
Taurus
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Pleiades
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Tortoise in Japanese folklore
Subaru
Taurus
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Nebra sky disk
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Bronze
1600 BC
One of oldest representations
of cosmos
Taurus
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Hyades
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Nearest star cluster
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151 ly
 Hipparcos data
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~625 million years old
Taurus
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Hipparcos
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High Precision Parallax Collecting Satellite
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Hipparcos Catalog
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European Space Agency (ESA)
1989-1993
118,218 stars with 1-3 mas astrometry
Tycho-2 Catalog
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2,539,913 of brightest stars (~500 visible to naked eye)
 99% complete to mV ~ 11.0
 90% complete to mV ~ 11.5
Taurus
Taurus
Applause