[Contents], [Among the stars]

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December: Taurus

the bull

The bull was the most revered animal of ancient mythology. It appers in many stories and occasionally represented the god Zeus in animal form.

Taurus lies in the sun's path in the zodiac and it is easily found N-W of Orion. The bull's head is the form of a V.

Taurus contains a number of interresting objects:

• the Pleiades star cluster, or "Seven Sisters" although only six are prominent;
• The Hyades cluster, which is probably the cluster closest to the Sun, forms the head of the Bull;
• Aldebaran is the brightest star. It is yellow and is quite close to the Sun (60 light years) and moves very swiftly through space. It is in the bull's eye.
• The Crab Nebula, visible in a 4-inch telescope, is M1, the first object in Charles Messier's list of fuzzy objets not to confuse with comets. It list to teh east of the Pleiades and due north of Orion and is known to the the site of the supernova of 1054CE.