2.2 KiB
| name | created_by | created_date | updated_by | updated_date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Taurus | skybber | 2021-07-25 07:53:17.080969 | skybber | 2021-07-25 07:53:17.081329 |
The constellation of the northern sky's zodiacal constellation through which the Sun passes before the summer solstice, from May 13 to June 20. At the opposite time of year, late autumn, Taurus is therefore high above the south as it passes through our meridian. Taurus lies just on the edge of the winter Milky Way and is one of the most attractive and distinct constellations in the northern hemisphere. And not just because it is home to two of the most extraordinary open star clusters - the Hyades and the Pleiades - that the Earth's sky has to offer. It's not to be missed in the sky, and it lies in close proximity to Orion. With a little imagination, we can make out an angry bull in the star pattern with the ominous red eye formed by the star Aldebaran, the V-shaped head represented by the open cluster Hyades, and the ominous horns extending northeast to the stars β and ζ Tauri. Taurus is also known for containing G in 1801. Piazzi discovered the first asteroid Ceres.
The faint parts of the Milky Way are found in Taurus. One part begins to emerge from around the California Nebula and continues indistinctly east of the Pleiades toward the south. It is separated from the main stream by a darker region. At about 2/3 of the distance from the red Aldebaran towards the star Alnath (β Tauri) there is again a nebulous ring cloud. In the 10 × 50 class, a large open cluster without central compaction, NGC 1746, is also visible and contains several numerous stars.
Approximately at the boundary of Taurus, Woz, Gemini and Orion is the galactic anticenter, hence the lack of a bright milky background. At l = 175˚ we observe a large molecular cloud complex only 450 light-years away, which in some regions attenuates incoming starlight by up to 30 magnitudes. It consists of a number of Barnard nebulae (B14, 18, 22, 210, 220, 212, 215) and is also a region where new low-mass stars are now forming. An example is the well-known T Tauri, around which the Hind Variable Nebula (NGC 1554 - 55) can be seen in a large telescope.