1. By Natalie Lantz and Sierra Downs

2. Mythology and History One of the 13 constellations of the Zodiac In Greek mythology, Taurus represents the white bull that sired the minotaur with King Minos’s wife. The minotaur is a monster with the body of a man and the head and tail of a bull. The monster was slain in the labyrinth by Theseus of Athens.

3. Mythology and History It is believed to be one of the oldest recognized constellations. The Egyptians saw it as their god Osiris. The Chinese called it the “White Tiger” or the “Great Bridge”

4. Position in the Sky September and October: visible in the evening along the eastern horizon January at 9:00 pm: most favorable time for viewing in the night sky Visible between latitudes +90 and -65 degrees.

5. Position in the Sky Right Ascension: 4 hours Declination: +15 degrees Quadrant: NQ1 Area of sky covered: 797 square degrees

6. Major Stars ALDEBARAN (Alpha Tau) ALNATH (Beta Tau) Hyadum I (Gamma Tau) Hyadum II (Delta 1 Tau) Ain (Epsilon Tau) ALCYONE (Eta Tau) Celaeno (16 Tau) Electra (17 Tau) Taygeta (19 Tau) Maia (20 Tau) Asterope (21 Tau) Sterope II (22 Tau) Merope (23 Tau) Atlas (27 Tau) Pleione (28 Tau)

7. Aldebaran Aldebaran is the brightest star in the constellation 65 light years away Apparent magnitude of 0.87 It can be found by looking for the first bright star that follows Orion’s belt

8. Gliese Nearest star in the constellation 31 light years away Red dwarf star Apparent magnitude of +9.97 Has an extra solar planet

9. Other Objects: The Crab Nebula 65,000 light years from Earth Expands at a rate of 1,500 kilometers per second The Crab Pulsar, a neutron star, is at the center of the nebula It emits pulses of radiation, including gamma rays and radio waves Supernova remnant and pulsar wind nebula First observed in 1731 by astronomer John Bevis First astronomical object recognized as being connected to a supernova explosion

10. The Crab Nebula

11. Other Objects: The Pleiades Also known as M45 or the Seven Sisters Among the nearest to Earth of all open clusters Mostly hot blue stars Formed in the last 100 million years The stars are currently passing through an unrelated dust cloud