This constellation may be identified by the brilliant first-magnitude
star Aldebaran,[2] and the misty Little Dipper of the Pleiades. It is
a very beautiful and large constellation. About an hour and a half
after the triangle of Aries has risen, the soft-twinkling cluster of
tiny stars which form the Pleiades comes above the eastern horizon, and
about an hour later a V-shaped cluster of brighter stars, with a very
bright-red one at the end of the lower half of the V, appears. This
last cluster is the Hyades, and the bright star is Aldebaran.
[2] See “Aldebaran” in _The Friendly Stars_.
By these two clusters we may know the constellation. The ecliptic
passes across Taurus about four degrees east of the Pleiades, and
about seven degrees west of Aldebaran. The planets in passing through
this region often come very close to the Pleiades, and parts of the
group are sometimes occulted by the moon. Taurus is conspicuous in the
eastern evening sky from September until nearly January. From that
time on until May it may be seen in the evening, high up in the sky,
a little farther west each evening, until it disappears in May. Among
the four planets that we most see Mars is the only one that resembles
Aldebaran in color. They are both reddish, but Mars is always west of
Aldebaran near the line of the ecliptic, and also it does not have the
same twinkling face that Aldebaran shows; hence the star and the planet
need never be confused. Mercury, it is true, is reddish and twinkles,
but so seldom needs to be taken into account that it will not be
troublesome. The other planets when in Taurus will proclaim themselves
by their color and size. There is no very bright star in Taurus except
Aldebaran, which has been described. Any bright star north of it in the
constellation is sure to be a planet.
Through Taurus the line of the ecliptic runs in a northeasterly
direction, and about fifteen degrees east from Aldebaran it passes
about half-way between two fairly bright stars which mark the tips of
the horns of Taurus, and from there on into the fourth constellation.