Starwatch: Track down Taurus to and the year feeling bullish
Finish the year by tracking down one of the oldest known constellations: Taurus, the bull. The chart shows the view looking south from London at 22.00 GMT on 30 December. The view will remain essentially the same all week.
According to Babylonian star charts from about 1000BC, the grouping of stars we now call Taurus was known as the bull of heaven. However, the pattern’s association with a bull could be much older: some believe that the constellation can be found embedded in the 17,000-year-old cave paintings of bulls at Lascaux in France.
Right in the middle of the constellation this week is Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system.
While Jupiter is the brightest object to be found in the constellation this week, the brightest star is Aldebaran. This giant star gives out about 400 times more light than the sun and is about 44 times larger in diameter. Roughly 65 light years away, it glows with a distinctly orange colour.
Two star clusters can be seen with the naked eye: the Hyades and Pleiades. The Hyades is a V-shaped collection of stars that marks the bull’s head. The Pleiades sits above the bull’s shoulder and is known as the seven sisters.
