Constellation In Focus: Taurus

Constellation In Focus: Taurus

Marking the shoulder of The Bull, M45 The Pleiades is perhaps the most beautiful binocular target in the night sky. A telescope with low magnification will bring out a chain of stars running through the middle like a row of pearls.

M1 The Crab Nebula is what remains of a very bright supernova seen from Earth in 1054. It shone so brightly (about four times brighter than Venus) that it was quite visible during daylight hours.

NGC 1514 a nice planetary nebula with a dim outer shell and a bright inner shell; the inner shell has a blobbed appearance.

Aldebaran is the brightest star in Taurus and distinctly orange-hued. The giant star is in the late stage of its life-cycle: having burnt off its hydrogen, it's currently fusing helium into carbon.

January 2006