Find it in the sky
The bull’s face is a V of stars, the Hyades, with bright orange Aldebaran for its eye. The Pleiades sit on its back, on January evenings.
Zodiac
Taurus
Taurus: the Crab Nebula’s supernova was seen by day in 1054.
Best in January, around 9 p.m.No. 17 of the 88 constellations by areaBrightest star Aldebaran (magnitude 0.85)8 stars in this guide
The drawings on these maps are the game’s, and don’t show exact positions in the sky.
Legend
In Greek myth it is Zeus, who took the form of a magnificent white bull to carry off Europa, a Phoenician princess. Many cultures call the Pleiades on its back the “seven sisters”.
Sign
21 April to 21 May. In the real sky the Sun passes in front of Taurus from about 14 May to 21 June.
Its stars
Magnitude says how bright a star looks from here: the smaller the number, the brighter the star.
Prima Hyadum
Gamma Tauri
- Type
- Yellow giant
- Distance
- about 154 light years
- Brightness
- magnitude 3.65
- Name
- “First of the Hyades” (Latin)
A yellow giant of the Hyades; once taken for a double, it is now listed as a “dubious double”.
Secunda Hyadum
Delta¹ Tauri
- Type
- Yellow giant
- Distance
- about 156 light years
- Brightness
- magnitude 3.77
- Name
- “Second of the Hyades” (Latin)
A binary whose two stars circle each other every 529.8 days.
Ain
Epsilon Tauri
- Type
- Orange giant
- Distance
- about 146 light years
- Brightness
- magnitude 3.53
- Name
- “The eye” (Arabic)
The first planet ever found in an open cluster orbits it.
Chamukuy
Theta² Tauri
- Type
- White giant
- Distance
- about 157 light years
- Brightness
- magnitude 3.40
- Name
- “A small bird” (Yucatec Maya)
Its brightness rises and falls every 1.82 hours.
Aldebaran
Alpha Tauri
- Type
- Orange giant
- Distance
- about 67 light years
- Brightness
- magnitude 0.85
- Name
- “The follower” (Arabic): it seems to follow the Pleiades
The bull’s eye; it looks like one of the Hyades but is not.
Alcyone
Eta Tauri
- Type
- Blue-white giant
- Distance
- about 440 light years
- Brightness
- magnitude 2.87
- Name
- One of the seven daughters of Atlas and Pleione: the Pleiades
The brightest star of the Pleiades.
Elnath
Beta Tauri
- Type
- Blue-white giant
- Distance
- about 134 light years
- Brightness
- magnitude 1.65
- Name
- “The butting one” (Arabic): the bull’s horns
A star rich in mercury and manganese.
Tianguan
Zeta Tauri
- Type
- Blue-white giant
- Distance
- about 440 light years
- Brightness
- magnitude 3.01
- Name
- “Celestial Gate” (Chinese)
A hot, fast-spinning star with a rotating disk of gas around it.
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Sources: constellation areas follow the International Astronomical Union (IAU) boundaries; star values come from Wikipedia’s articles, based on Hipparcos and Gaia; the Sun’s dates come from EarthSky. Distances are rounded.