Taurus

Position in the Sky

Explanation of the following information

Right Ascension: 4 hours

Declination: 15 degrees

Visible between latitudes 90 and -65 degrees

Best seen in January (at 9:00 PM)

Named Stars

Messier Objects

M1 The Crab Nebula (supernova remnant)

M45 The Pleiades (The Seven Sisters), or Subaru (open cluster)

This is one of the 13 constellations of the Zodiac.

Taurus is one of the many animals hunted by Orion, the Hunter.

The Greeks saw Taurus as Zeus in disguise. The story went that Zeus fell in love with Europa, the daughter of Agenor who was King of Phoenica. On one day while she was playing by the waters edge, she caught sight of a majestic white bull grazing amongst her fathers heard. When she approached the bull, it knelt down and let get on it's back. Once she was on, it sprang to it's feet and took off to the sea in Crete where Zeus made her his mistress.

It also represents the white bull that sired the famous Minotaur with the wife of King Minos of Crete. This bull was sent to Minos as a sign that he was the rightful heir to the throne. However, Minos did not sacrifice the bull to Poseidon like he was supposed to, so the ever-vengeful sea god caused his queen, Pasiphaë, to fall in love with it. Later, in another myth, Theseus of Athens goes to Crete and slays the dreadful Minotaur, which was reported to be a man with a bull's head that could breathe fire.

The Egyptians saw the constellation instead as their god Osiris while the Chinese caled it alternatively the "White Tiger" or the "Great Bridge."