a Tauri


Alpha Tauri, "Aldebaran" (The Follower or The Bright One of the Follower), since apparently it trails the Pleiades.

Aldebaran is the Eye of the Bull, as it stares defiantly at Orion.

Aldebaran is in the same field as the Hyades star cluster, but isn't a part of this cluster as it is much closer at 65 light years.
   From Orion's Belt (notice the slight curve upwards!) draw an imaginary line toward the northwest. Aldebaran is the first bright star you'll come across.
   Now that's you have found Aldebaran the rest of the constellation will gradually fall into place.

Placing Aldebaran on the left edge of the field of vision the stars form a pleasant group in the centre of the Hyades. Gamma is at the right edge and epsilon at the upper edge. In the middle are the two theta stars, a wide double of subtle colour difference, yellow and white.

Now the two horns. These aren't terribly apparent, as the only indication of their existence is the tip of each horn. The upper horn is the brighter star, beta Tauri.


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© 1999-2000 by Richard Dibon-Smith.