Starwatch: Taurus the bull – the oldest named constellation

The winter skies of January are a great time for northern hemisphere viewers to search out the constellation Taurus, the Bull. The chart shows the view looking south at 20:00 GMT on 21 January 2019. Of all the constellations that humans have named, this is the oldest. It was recognised across the world’s early cultures as a bull. Before that, in prehistoric times, it was possibly depicted on the 17,000-year-old paintings in the Lascaux caves, France. The constellation is not the brightest, but the face of the bull is well marked by a V-shaped collection of stars called the Hyades. The red giant star Aldebaran represents the eye of the bull. It is not a member of the Hyades but sits in front of it. At 65 light years away, it is roughly half way between the Sun and the Hyades. Above the shoulder of the bull is another famous star cluster: the Pleiades or the Seven Sisters. It is a tight knot of stars, and is the only obvious star cluster that can be recognised by the naked eye. In mythology, Taurus is often challenging Orion, the hunter.