Taurus (constellation)

1731

However, the remnant itself was not discovered until 1731, when John Bevis found it. The star Lambda (λ) Tauri is an eclipsing binary star.

1746

Located in this region, about 10° to the northeast of Aldebaran, is an asterism NGC 1746 spanning a width of 45 arcminutes. ==History and mythology== The identification of the constellation of Taurus with a bull is very old, certainly dating to the Chalcolithic, and perhaps even to the Upper Paleolithic.

1790

This planetary nebula is of historical interest following its discovery by German-born English astronomer William Herschel in 1790.

1864

In 1864, English astronomer William Huggins used the spectrum of this nebula to deduce that the nebula is a luminous gas, rather than stars. To the west, the two horns of the bull are formed by Beta (β) Tauri and Zeta (ζ) Tauri; two star systems that are separated by 8°.

1922

A ring-like galactic structure known as Gould's Belt passes through the constellation. The recommended three-letter abbreviation for the constellation, as adopted by the International Astronomical Union in 1922, is "Tau".

1930

The official constellation boundaries, as set by Belgian astronomer Eugène Delporte in 1930, are defined by a polygon of 26 segments.

1990

To the early Hebrews, Taurus was the first constellation in their zodiac and consequently it was represented by the first letter in their alphabet, Aleph. In 1990, due to the precession of the equinoxes, the position of the Sun on the first day of summer (June 21) crossed the IAU boundary of Gemini into Taurus.




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