Constellations

The Deep Photographic Guide to the
Constellations

The constellation of the month
FEBRUARY

Taurus

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Names:

Latin: Taurus (Tau)
English: Bull Spanish: Toro
German: Stier French: Taureau
In mid-february the constellation Taurus can be seen best at 19 h local time, when it culminates (see lines). The position is above of last months Orion, or vice versa if you are on the southern hemisphere.
Frequently you can see other bright objects in Taurus: the planets. The ecliptic crosses Taurus between the two Open Star Clusters Pleiades (M 45) and Hyades. The galactic plane is also very close. In the upper left part you can see parts of Auriga, lying exactly in the plane of our Milky Way. Extended dark interstellar dust clouds of the Taurus-Auriga star forming region dim the light of the stars from behind. These dark clouds can be seen even better in the high contrast version.

Taurus offers a wealth of interesting objects like the Pleiades M 45 and a couple of other Open Clusters. The brightest star is Aldebaran (Alpha Tauri), the "red eye" of the bull visible in the lower right.

© all photographs taken by Till Credner and Sven Kohle