Taurus: the Bull

Tom Williams
Physics 1040
Constellation Paper





Mythology:
Although the Taurus constellation does not have many mythological stories tied to it, it is
one of the oldest recognized constellations that exist, dating back to at least the Bronze Age but
may have even been recognized before that, as far as 15,000 BC, according to depictions of the
constellation found in a cave painting at Lascaux, in France. The most famous myth is that of the
Greek god, Zeus, who desired to seduce Europa, a daughter of King Agenor. Having tried
several times without success to seduce her, he decided to disguise himself as a bull, as she had a
fondness for bulls. Zeus used this opportunity to get close to Europa and gain her affection, and
having done so Zeus carried her away across the sea to an island, where he revealed himself.
This did not bother Europa, and they stayed together for a time, even having children. To
commemorate the Bull, Zeus put it among the stars. [1]
There were several other ancient civilizations which identified the constellation as a bull.
The Babylonians called it the Heavenly Bull. In the story of Gilgamesh, a goddess sends the
bull of Heaven to defeat Gilgamesh, who is depicted as Orion, the neighboring constellation, as
they fight in the night sky. The Egyptians associated the constellation with Osiris and Isis, the
bull-god and cow-goddess, and also with the renewal of the land and life when it entered the
spring equinox.[6]
Constellation
Taurus right ascension is located at 4.9 and its declination is located at 19, which puts it in the
northern hemisphere in NQ1. It is bordered by the constellations of Aires to the west and Gemini
to the east. Persius and Auriga are located to its north while Orion, Eridanus and Cetus are
located to the southeast, south, and southwest of Taurus, respectively. Taurus is visible from both
the northern and southern hemisphere, between the latitudes of +90 and -65. Taurus is visible
from Fall until Spring, during the months of September, where it will appear on the eastern
horizon in the evening, until April, where it will appear in the west, and is most easily viewed
during December and January. It is the 17
th
largest constellation and covers an area of about 797
square degrees. [4]
Objects of interest
One object, known as Goulds Belt, passes through the constellation, along with a
number of others. Discovered by Benjamin Gould in 1879, it is a partial ring of stars spanning
3000 light years across, containing O- and B-type stars and is believed to be about 30 to 50
million years old, but Taurus does not seem to contain any stars located within the ring. There is
a meteor shower associated with the constellation, called the Taurid meteor shower, which
appears to pass through the area during October and November. The Hyades is an open star
cluster, the nearest one to the solar system and four of the stars located within the cluster form
the v shape which is identified as the head of the bull. The cluster contains a large group of
hundreds of stars that all are very similar in age, origin, chemical content and motion through
space. This cluster has been known for centuries and even has its own Greek mythology tied to
it, known as the five daughters of Atlas and half-sisters of Pleiades (the other cluster located
within the constellation). The Pleiades are known as the seven sisters, and is one of the nearest
star clusters to Earth. It contains numerous hot blue and very luminous stars (anywhere between
500 to 1,000 stars) which formed within the last 100 million years and are expected to live for
another 200 million years.
The constellation also has two nebulas, the first being the Crystal Ball Nebula, and the
second, the Crab Nebula, both located towards the northwest section of the constellation. The
former was discovered by William Herschel, whose discovery helped learn more about the
characteristics of nebulae. The latter was created by a supernova explosion that was even visible
from earth in the year 1054. And finally, the constellation also includes part of the Taurus-
Auriga complex, one of the nearest, active star forming regions. Many of these features help
form the shape of Taurus.

The Pleiades, http://news.softpedia.com/news/Aftermath-of-Cosmic-Catastrophe-Imaged-
in-the-Pleiades-202226.shtml
Primary Stars
Aldebaran is a giant star (the follower in Arabic), one of the brightest stars of the night,
and is located about 65 light years away. It is positioned to appear as the eye of the bull, and
because of its orange color, it is described as gazing angrily upon Orion. It is about 44 times the
size of the sun and shines with about 425 times the suns luminosity. The second brightest star,
called Beta Tauri, sits about 130 light years away and its luminosity is about 700 times as bright
as the sun. The star gives the constellation the shape of one of the horns.
Star RA DEC Distance
(ly)
Visual
Magnitu
de
Spectral
Classifica
tion

Aldebaran 04h 35m
55.20s
+16 30 35.1 65 0.87 K5III
Tau 05h 26m
17.50s
+28 36 28.3 131 1.65 B7III
Alcyone A 03h 47m
29.06s
+24 06 18.9 368 2.85 B7III
Tau 05h 37m
38.68s
+21 08 33.3 417 2.97 B4IIIp
2 Tau 04h 28m
39.67s
+15 52 15.4 149 3.40 A7III
Tau 04h 00m
40.82s
+12 29 25.4 370 3.41 B3V + A
Tau 04h 28m
36.93s
+19 10 49.9 155 3.53 K0III
Tau 03h 24m
48.84s
+09 01 44.6 211 3.61 G8III
Atlas A 03h 49m
09.73s
+24 03 12.7 380 3.62 B8III
Tau 04h 19m
47.53s
+15 37 39.7 154 3.65 G8III
Electra 03h 44m
52.52s
+24 06 48.4 370 3.72 B6III
Tau 03h 27m
10.12s
+09 43 58.0 222 3.73 B9Vn
1 Tau 04h 22m
56.03s
+17 32 33.3 153 3.77 G8III
1 Tau 04h 28m
34.43s
+15 57 44.0 158 3.84 G7III
Maia 03h 45m
49.59s
+24 22 04.3 360 3.87 B8III
Tau 04h 03m
09.38s
+05 59 21.5 129 3.91 A1V
5 Tau 03h 30m
52.37s
+12 56 12.1 360 4.14 K0II-III
Merope 03h 46m
19.56s
+23 56 54.5 359 4.14 B6IV
1 Tau 04h 25m
22.10s
+22 17 38.3 153 4.21 A7IV-V
88 Tau 04h 35m
39.23s
+10 09 39.3 150 4.25 A5m


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taurus_%28constellation%29#mediaviewer/File:TaurusCC.jpg
Bibliography
1. Pfaffmann, Garrick. The Night Sky: Stars, Constellations, Stories. Basalt Colorado, USA:
Bearbop Press, LLC, 2011. Print.
2. Scagell, Robin and Wil Tirion. Night Sky Atlas: The Moon, Planets, Stars and Deep Sky
Objects. Buffalo, New York: Firefly Books, 2005. Print.
3. http://www.space.com/17101-taurus-constellation.html Accessed 7/20/14
4. http://www.constellation-guide.com/constellation-list/taurus-constellation/ Accessed
7/20/14
5. http://www.solarsystemquick.com/universe/taurus-constellation.htm Accessed 7/20/14
6. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taurus_%28constellation%29 Accessed 7/20/14
7. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_stars_in_Taurus Accessed 7/20/14