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Taurus, the Bull

Tau

Tauri

Sky Chart and Artist Rendering of Taurus

Origin:
Taurus is a very old ecliptic constellation and the second sign of the ancient zodiac. The origin of this constellation is lost in antiquity. Ancient pictographs show Orion fighting the Bull but more modern drawings only show the bull threatening Orion.

Information:
Taurus is a winter constellation for northern hemisphere observers, the head of the bull culminating nearly overhead at 9 pm on January 9. The Hyades (a triangle of 5 bright stars) is northwest of Orion's right shoulder and directly south of Perseus.  The beautiful Pleiades (M45) -- a star cluster 13 light years wide 400 light years away -- is easily found northwest of the Hyades.

Taurus is also home to the Crab Nebula (M1, NGC 1952), imbedded in which is the so-called Crab Pulsar (a fast-rotating neutron star). The Crab Nebula is about 6,500 light years away and gets its name from a supposed crab-like appearance in large telescopes and photographs -- a resemblance that few actually see.  It is the remnant of a supernova that was observed and recorded world-wide in 1054 AD.  The Chinese made the most detailed observations; however, Native Americans recorded the stellar episode in petroglyphs as well. Curiously, the Europeans were entirely silent about a celestial event that lasted months and was visible during the day for over three weeks.  The supernova was so bright that it was visible during the day time.  The Crab Nebula is one of the most studied objects in the sky so is worth hunting for even if it shows up through the telescope as no more than a fuzzy patch of gas just slightly brighter than the background.

Mythology:
In one myth, Zeus became enamored with the lovely but heavily guarded princess Europa, daughter of the King of Tyre. To gain access to the kingdom, Zeus changed himself into a beautiful white bull with golden horns and mingled with the king's herds grazing in a field by the sea. Europa noticed the unusual animal and went to feed it. So impressed was she with the friendly and gentle bull that she climbed onto its back and took hold of its golden horns so as to ride the majestic animal.  Nonthreateningly, the white bull rambled closer to the water but, when it neared the shore, it ran headlong into the water and swam towards the island of Crete. So strong a swimmer was the bull (after all, it was an incarnation of a god), it took no time at all for Europa to discover that she couldn't dismount the bull and swim back to shore.

In a short time, the two made landfall in Crete.  Zeus changed back into his normal self and quickly realized that he could not marry the mortal Europa. Also enamored with  Europa, King Asterius of Crete requested that Zeus give her to him to marry, a request that Zeus honored.