This week, the night sky presents a celestial spectacle of truly ancient heritage: the constellation of Taurus, the bull. Recorded as the "bull of heaven" in Babylonian star catalogues around 1000BC, its recognition in a form we would know today makes it one of the oldest zodiacal constellations.
A Legacy Etched in Stone and Stars
Remarkably, humanity's connection to this star pattern may stretch back far earlier than the Babylonians. Evidence from the famous Lascaux cave paintings in France suggests that prehistoric humans might have associated this particular grouping of stars with a bull a staggering 14,000 years before those Babylonian records. This deep history makes Taurus a direct link to our earliest ancestors' attempts to understand the heavens.
As a constellation that lies on the ecliptic—the Sun's apparent yearly path across the sky—Taurus is classified as a zodiac constellation. Its most prominent feature is the brilliant, orange-hued star Aldebaran. This star, a red giant, marks the "eye of the bull," a meaning directly translated from its Arabic name.
Treasures Within the Bull
Taurus is not just a collection of individual stars; it hosts two magnificent star clusters visible without any optical aid. The first, forming a distinctive V-shape around Aldebaran, depicts the bull's face. This is the Hyades star cluster, one of the nearest open clusters to Earth.
The second and perhaps more famous cluster rests upon the bull's shoulder. Known as the Pleiades, or the Seven Sisters, this tight knot of blue stars is a mesmerising sight. Its brightest member is the star Alcyone.
How and When to See Taurus
Observers in the UK should look towards the south to south-eastern sky around 20.00 GMT this week to find Taurus. The accompanying chart shows the precise view from London. Because it resides on the ecliptic, this constellation is also readily observable from the southern hemisphere, offering a global celestial show.
So, on the next clear evening, take a moment to behold Taurus. You are witnessing a stellar pattern that has captivated human imagination, from artists in ancient caves to astronomers across millennia, for over fifteen thousand years.
