Map showing the principal stars visible from Lat. 400 N. at 9 o'clock, January first. ECLIPTIC The Circlet W. TAURUS (tâ'-rus)-THE BULL. (Face Southwest). LOCATION.-Taurus contains the well-known and unmistakable group the Pleiades, on the right shoulder of the Bull. A "V" shaped group known as the Hyades is just to the southeast of the Pleiades, in the face of the Bull, forming one of the most beautiful objects in the sky. The brightest star in Taurus is Aldebaran, a ruddy-hued star known as "The Follower." It is at the beginning of the “V” in the Hyades, and is at the apex of a triangle formed by Capella, in Auriga, and (a) Persei, and equally distant from them both. The star (B), called Nath, is peculiarly white, and is common to Taurus and Auriga. It represents the tip of one of the Bull's horns, and the right foot of the Charioteer. The Pleiades are mentioned in Chinese annals in 2357 B.C. The ecliptic passes a little south of a point midway between the two horns, where a scattered and broken stream of minute stars can be seen. Note two pretty pairs in the Hyades, one south of Aldebaran, the other northwest of it. There are rich clusters below the tip of the horn over Orion's head. Taurus was an important object of worship by the Druids. Aldebaran is near one eye of the Bull, and used to be called "the Bull's Eye." An occultation of it by the moon, which not infrequently occurs, is a striking phenomenon. |