Viewing constellation Taurus

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For those of us in the northern hemisphere, the dark nights make this a good time of year for star-spotting. If you?ve never done so before make a point of identifying Taurus.

First find Orion in the south-southeastern sky. (If you don?t know how to locate Orion, then you really need to get out there ? it is one of the easiest star groups to find because of the belt which consists of a short diagonal line of three stars.)

Taurus is very close to Orion and lies to the north west. Aldebaran is its main star, it shines with a red hue which is similar to Mars. It is part of the V-shape that marks the head and horns of the Bull. The Pleiades lie to the west (last night they were very brilliant), and El Nath and Al Hecka lie southwards forming the tips of the horns.

When you?ve found the constellation read The Star Myths of Taurus, to remind yourself of the meaning of the stars.

Image

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For those of us in the Southern Hemisphere, Aldebaran in particular is fairly easy to pinpoint. It is in the north east part of the sky and south west of Orion. As Deb says, it has a red hue to it. Of course, the V shape is upside down to us. The best time at the moment is around 11pm-midnight EDST (-11hrs) or later when it is a little higher in the sky.