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Taurus: The Bull

Emmalie Rawlings

Physics 1040, Section 406

Constellation Paper

Taurus (constellation)
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Mythology

The Mythology and Origin of the constellation Taurus has been told and retold for

thousand of generations. Through those generations, stories have been adapted or changed

depending on the culture and time period, which has resulted in many different variations of the

Constellations Greek Mythology. It is said to have been recorded on the walls of caves as far

back as 15,000 B.C. (Taurus Mythology). The mythology of Taurus has been identified with

many cultures, including: Egyptian, Greek, and even Babylonian.

One of the most widely known myths is referred to as, “Zeus and Europha”. This story

tells of a legendary princess named Europha which Zeus eagerly wants to gain the favor of.

Europha is not like the other women that he has met and is the daughter of King Agenor. In order

to have her fall in love with him, Zeus assumes the form of a beautiful White Bull. He placed

himself within King Agenor’s herd and waited to be noticed. After a while, Europha noticed the

dazzling Bull and became mesmerized by its movement and pure white coat. She approached it

and climbed onto its back. The Bull (Zeus) then carried her to the beach where she admired the

Bull in the sunlight. After Zeus had gained some trust with her, he proceeded to carry Europha

out to sea so they can be together (Taurus Mythology).

Another account of the same myth states, “Taurus represents the bull-form taken on by

Jupiter when became enamored of Europa, Princess of Phoencia (Taurus).” It goes on to discuss

how she was impressed with the beauty of the Bull and so they “Played together on the beach”.

She then climbed onto the bull’s back and he swam out to sea with her. Only after they reached

the island of Crete did he show his true self to her (Taurus). It is explained that once he revealed

himself to her, Zeus proclaimed that she would now become his mistress. Another writer goes on

to explain how on the island of Crete he gave his new love (Europa) presents such as a dog,
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which later became the constellation Canis Major. “The offspring of Zeus and Europa included

Mines, king of Crete, who established the famous palace at Knossos where bull games were held

(Taurus The Bull).” Europa eventually had three sons with Zeus and later would celebrate his

success with her by placing a Bull into the sky.

Another popular variation of Taurus’s Mythology states that the Bull represents Io, an

illicit love of Zeus. It is said that Zeus turned Io into a Heifer (Bull) in order to disguise her from

his wife Hera. As the story is told, Hera is suspicious of the Bull and sends the watchman, Argus,

to guard Io. Hera comes to find out that the Heifer is actually a lover of Zeus and becomes very

angry. In the end, sends someone else chase the heifer, who throws herself into the sea and

swims away. When looking at the constellation in the sky, you can only detect the head of the

Bull, and that is said to be because it is partially submerged underwater. Although there are many

variations for the myths of Taurus, the Gods play an important role in all of them. The Myths of

Taurus the Bull are one of the most well-known stories in Greek Mythology and they have come

to be seen as the origin of the constellation.

The Constellation

The bordering constellations of the constellation Taurus are shown in Deep-Sky Hunter

Star Atlas, it shows that the closest bordering constellations include: Auriga, Aries, Orion,

Perseus, Cetus, Gemini, and Eridanus (Vlasov). In order to create the shape of this constellation

you need to draw the profile of the Bull with two locations for the horns and another two

locations for the hooves. This profile should create a K outline in the sky and is normally drawn

similarly to the very first figure above and to the pictures shown below.
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Christoforou, 2019 Taurus (constellation)

The Constellation Taurus can be seen in the North Hemisphere during Winter and Spring or the

Southern Hemisphere in Summer and Fall (McClure, 2018). It is can be seen at latitudes between

+90 degrees and -65 degrees. In the Northern Hemisphere, the bull passes through the sky from

“November to March, but the constellations at its most visible in January (Zimmermann, 2018).”

The constellation has an RA of 4 hours, a DEC at 15 degrees and covers an area of 797 square

degrees. Taurus holds many amazing stars, clusters, nebulas, and even have stars with

exoplanets.

20 Brightest Stars

This table lists the 20 brightest stars in the constellation Taurus with their name, RA,

DEC, visible magnitude, distance, and spectral classification.

Name RA DEC Visible Distance Spectral

Magnitude (ly) Class

Aldebaran 04h 35m 55.20s +16° 30′ 35.1″ .087 65

K5III

Beta Tauri 05h 26m 17.50s +28° 36′ 28.3″ 1.65 137 B7III
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Alcyone A 03h 47m 29.06s 2.85 368 B7III

+24° 06′ 18.9″

Zeta Tauri 05h 37m 38.68s +21° 08′ 33.3″ 2.97 417 B4IIIp
Theta Tauri 04h 28m 39.67s +15° 52′ 15.4″ 3.40 149 A7III
Lambda Tauri 04h 00m 40.82s +12° 29′ 25.4″ 3.41 370 B3V + A
Epsilon Tauri 04h 28m 36.93s +19° 10′ 49.9″ 3.53 155 K0III
Omicron Tauri 03h 24m 48.84s +09° 01′ 44.6″ 3.61 211 G8III
Atlas A 03h 49m 09.73s +24° 03′ 12.7″ 3.62 380 B8III
Gamma Tauri 04h 19m 47.53s +15° 37′ 39.7″ 3.65 154
G8III

Electra 03h 44m 52.52s +24° 06′ 48.4″ 3.72 370

B6III

Xi Tauri 03h 27m 10.12s +09° 43′ 58.0″ 3.73 222 B9Vn
Delta Tauri 04h 22m 56.03s +17° 32′ 33.3″ 3.77 153 G8III
Theta Tauri 04h 28m 34.43s 3.84 158
+15° 57′ 44.0″ G7III

Maia 03h 45m 49.59s +24° 22′ 04.3″ 3.87 360 B8III
Nu Tauri 04h 03m 09.38s 3.91 129 A1V
+05° 59′ 21.5″

Merope 03h 46m 19.56s +23° 56′ 54.5″ 4.14 359 B6IV
5 Tauri 03h 30m 52.37s +12° 56′ 12.1″ 4.14 360 K0II-III...
Kappa Tauri 04h 25m 22.10s +22° 17′ 38.3″ 4.21 153 A7IV-V
88 Tauri 04h 35m 39.23s +10° 09′ 39.3″ 4.25 150 A5m
(List of Stars in Taurus, 2018)

The closest star to Earth in the Taurus Constellation is Gliese 176 and is located 31 light-

years away. Interestingly enough, Gliese is a red dwarf star that also has an exoplanet (Gliese

176). This exoplanet is categorized as a Super-Earth with an apparent magnitude of 9.95. Out of

the 20 brightest stars the star most similar to Earth would be Omicron Tauri because they have

similar spectral classification. One of the most well-known stars in the constellation of Taurus is,

Aldebaran which is also the brightest star in this constellation; it has a visible magnitude of 0.87.

Although there are billions of stars, Aldebaran is the generally 13th brightest in the night sky. It is

not consistently the 13th brightest because the visible brightness varies slightly. Of the 20

brightest stars found in Taurus, Atlas A is the farthest away from Earth. Atlas A is located 380

light-years away but somehow still manages to be noticed.

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Objects of Interest

Although the Constellation Taurus is well known for its bright stars, it also holds many

other interesting parts of the Universe within it. One interesting object in particular is called

Messier 1 (M1). It is also referred to as the Crab Nebula, Taurus A, or NGC 1952. The Crab

Nebula is a beautiful Supernova Remnant that is within the upper left side of the constellation

Taurus. It stretches across the sky with a diameter of 11 light years and an apparent magnitude of

8.4. Although it cannot be seen by the naked eye it can be viewed through binoculars or

telescopes in good viewing conditions (Admin, 2015). It has an RA of 5 hours, 34 minutes and

31.94 seconds. The Crab Nebula also has a DEC of +22 degrees 00 feet and 52.2 inches

(Taurus(constellation)).

The Crab Nebula is the most famous object of its kind in the night sky. With a luminosity

75,000 times greater than the Sun it is an intriguing remnant to study. It has been studied and

observed countless times since its identification in 1731 by John Bevis. It was then rediscovered

in 1785 by Charles Messier. When Messier first identified the Crab Nebula, he thought it was

Halley’s Comet and only realized it was not after studying it and observing that it was in fact not

moving through the night sky (Taurus). He then collected a variety of information about the Crab

Nebula in order to not incorrectly identity a similar object as a comet in the future. Lord Rosse is

yet another person that observed The Crab Nebula and is actually the one

credited with calling it “The Crab Nebula”. When observing the remnant

through a telescope a few years later, he could not confirm the resemblance of

it to a Crab. Even though M1 does not look similar to a crab, the name has

stuck and has become a well-known part of the night sky.

Admin, 2015
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The Crab Nebula first formed by a Supernova explosion and has been identified to have

strong sources of radio emissions and x-ray emissions. In April of 1963 the X-ray emissions

were first detected from the nebula. The radio emissions were first detected in 1949. “M1 is the

strongest persistent source of X-rays and gamma rays in the sky, with energies measuring above

30 kiloelectron volts (Admin, 2015).”

Admin, 2015

Another well known object in the Taurus Constellation is called Hyades, which is an

open cluster located 153 light years away from the Sun. It is a very easy-to-find cluster of stars

that represent the face of the Bull in the constellations drawn out profile (Bruce, M). Hyades has

a RA of 4 hours and 27 minutes with a DEC of +15 degrees 52 feet. This open cluster is

particularly interesting because it is estimated to be about 625 million years old. Since it is

located over 100 light years away, it has an apparent magnitude of 0.5.

This amazing Open Cluster is the closest one of its kind to Earth and therefore one of the

best studied star clusters. Hyades is a mostly spherical shaped group of stars that share many

similarities. Even though there are hundreds of stars in the cluster, they all share the same place

of origin, same age, same motion, and same chemical characteristics (Hyades (star cluster)).

Hyades appears to be in the constellation Taurus where it forms a “V” shape as the Bulls
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physical features. One of the three stars creating that “V” shape is one of the brightest stars in the

night sky, Aldebaran. Aldebaran in not actually within the Hyades star cluster but only appears

to be located in it from our perspective on Earth.

Although this Star Cluster consists of hundreds of stars, there are 5 in particular that have

been consuming the hydrogen fuel at their cores, which is evolving them into giants. One of

these five stars is called Theta-1 Tauri and is closely tied to Theta-2 Tauri. These two stars come

together to form “a wide naked eye double star, just south of brilliant Aldebaran (The Hyades

Star Cluster).” It is around this location where there is an exoplanet candidate. If this exoplanet

candidate is declared an exoplanet, it will be the first planet to be found in any open cluster.

Hyades is a very impressive open cluster, but one-third of the stars within this cluster are

probably in the process of “escaping its gravitational influences”. “Over the next few hundred

million years, the Hyades will continue to lose both mass and membership as its brightest stars

evolve…It may eventually be reduced to a remnant containing about a dozen star systems

(Hyades (star cluster)).”

Ford, D
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Bibliography

Admin. (2015, January 07). Messier 1: Crab Nebula. Retrieved from http://www.messier

-objects.com/messier-1-crab-nebula/

Christoforou, P. (2019, March 29). Star Constellation Facts: Taurus, The Bull. Retrieved from

http://www.astronomytrek.com/taurus-the-bull/

Constellations from Great Celestial Atlases. (n.d.). Retrieved from

http://www.physics.unlv.edu/~jeffery/astro/contellation/linda_hall.html

Ford, D. (n.d.). The Hyades (Open Cluster). Retrieved from https://in-the

-sky.org/data/object.php?id=Collinder_50

Gliese 176. (2018, March 17). Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org.wiki.Gliese_176

Hyades (star cluster). (2019, February 06). Retrieved from

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyades_(star_cluster)

List of Stars in Taurus. (2018, September 24). Retrieved from

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Stars_in_Taurus

McClure, B. (2018, February 22). Taurus? Here’s your constellation. Retrieved from

https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/taurus-heres-your-contellation

Taurus. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.comfychair.org/~cmbell/myth/taurus.html

Taurus (constellation). (2019, March 25). Retrieved from

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taurus_(constellation)

Taurus Mythology. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.globeatnight.org/mythology/taurus

Taurus The Bull. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.ianridpath.com/startales/taurus.htm

The Hyades Star Cluster. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.nightskyinfo.com/archive/hyades/

Vlasov, M. (n.d.). Deep-Sky Hunter Star Atlas. Retrieved from

http://www.deepskywatch.com/deep-sky-hunter-atlas.html

Zimmermann, K. A. (2018, November 08). Taurus Constellation: Facts About the Bull.

Retrieved from https://www.space.com/17101-taurus-constellation.html