What Does the Taurus Constellation Look Like?

What does the Taurus constellation look like?  The Taurus constellation looks like the front end of a bull.  There are bright stars on its horns, face, and front legs.  Let's learn more about what the Taurus constellation looks like and about the constellations in the sky.

So, what does the constellation Taurus look like?

• The Taurus constellation has two stars at the tips of the bull’s horns
• It has stars where the eyes and nose are, and at least one star that marks the legs
• Inside the Taurus constellation, you may want to look for the Pleiades, or the Seven Sisters
• Aldebaran, which is a very bright star on one of its eyes
• The Crab Nebula, which is between its horns
• The Hyades is a star cluster that makes a V shape on the head of the bull its stars make up one eye (not Aldebaran) and his nose

Finding the Taurus Constellation

Taurus constellation can be easily located:

• It is between the Aries and Gemini constellations and is located above and to the right of the Orion constellation
• It is said that Aldebaran, which is one of the bull’s eyes and is called the Bull’s Eye, is staring at Orion
• Orion lies on the celestial equator and it easy to spot because of Orion’s belt, which is three stars that make a straight line
• Just looking at the stars, you might say that the Taurus constellation looks like a V and you have to imagine the rest
• Find Orion’s belt and go up and to the right from there 
• Look for Aldebaran, which is the 14th brightest star in the sky, and the V shaped Hyades cluster
• If you look in the northeast part of the Taurus constellation, you will see the Pleiades, which is a cluster of seven stars 
• The exact location of the Taurus constellation is between Declination +30 and Declination +10 and between Right Ascension 6 hours and Right Ascension 3 hours and 30 minutes. 

How the Taurus Constellation Got Its Name

Ancient man looked at the night sky and imagined images made with the stars.  By naming them, they were able to organize the night sky.

The Babylonians wanted to measure celestial time, so they took the Sun’s path (ecliptic) and divided it into 12 sections.  In each section was a constellation and most of them were named after animals.  Because of the animal names, the Babylonians called these 12 constellations "zodiakos kyklos." 

Taurus got its name from Greek mythology.  Taurus, the Bull, was one of the animals that was hunted by Orion, the Hunter.  This is how the story goes:

The god Zeus fell in love with Europa and came to her in the shape of a white bull.  When she approached the bull, it knelt down and she got on its back.  It took her to Crete where he changed back into Zeus, and Europa became his wife.

The two star clusters in Taurus got names from Greek mythology, too. The Pleiades represent seven sisters who are daughters of Atlas.  One story has the sisters pursued by Orion and they were put in the Taurus constellation to escape Orion.  The Hyades are the half sisters of the Pleiades, and were made into stars because they were overcome with grief because their brother Hyas was killed by a wild boar.   

Taurus as a Zodiac Sign

The 12 signs of the zodiac are:

• Aries (Ram)
• Taurus (Bull)
• Gemini (Twins)
• Cancer (Crab)
• Leo (Lion)
• Virgo (Virgin)
• Libra (Scales)
• Scorpio (Scorpion)
• Sagittarius (Centaur The Archer)
• Capricorn (Sea Goat)
• Aquarius (Water Bearer)
• Pisces (Fish)

The Sun is in the Taurus constellation from April 21 to May 21.  If Taurus is your sign, then your good qualities include: affectionate, reliable, calm, patient, kind, loving, and security minded.  Negative traits include: jealous, rigid, greedy, self-indulgent, and resentful.

Because Taurus is also an earth sign, you are sensuous and love physical pleasures, like eating.  Compatible signs for Taurus are: Libra, Taurus, Cancer, Capricorn, Virgo, and Pisces.