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Aur

  • Aur - Auriga the Charioteer

    IAU Constellation
    Aur - Auriga the Charioteer

    Size

    21 of 88
    Astronomical Regions
    Northern

    Intro and Visual description

    Auriga lies in the Milky Way, with many binocular and telescopic objects, between Gemini, Perseus and Taurus, at the top of the Winter Hexagon. Auriga looks like a pentagon, if one includes Alnath, which is also the tip of one of Taurus the Bull’s horns (Alnath was once Gamma-Aurigae, but is now officially Beta-Tauri).

  • Urania's Mirror (1825) card: Auriga

    Image

    UM-1825-Auriga
  • M36

    Object image

    M36, by Ole Nielsen

    Object image source

    Ole Nielsen
    Permission
    cc-by-sa
  • M37

    Object image

    M37, by Ole Nielsen

    Object image source

    Ole Nielsen
    Permission
    cc-by-sa
  • M38

    Object image

    M38, Atlas Image courtesy of 2MASS/UMass/IPAC-Caltech/NASA/NSF

    Object image source

    Atlas Image courtesy of 2MASS/UMass/IPAC-Caltech/NASA/NSF
    Permission
    Public domain
  • Erichthonius

  • The Kids

    Asterism Visual Appearance

    Three stars make a small triangle near Capella (their Mom).

  • Tubus Herschelii Major the Telescope of Uranus

    Asterism Visual Appearance

    In Auriga, near Lynx and Gemini.

    Asterism Origin and History

    Created by Maximilian Hell in 1789 in honor of William Herschel's discovery of Uranus. Bode renamed it Telescopium Herschelii.

    Asterism Skylore

    Hell portrayed the 20-ft-long telescope Herschel used to discover Uranus. Bode depicted it with Herschel's smaller 7-ft telescope.

  • Telescopium Herschelii

    Asterism Origin and History

    Named by Maximilian Hell, S.J., in honor of William Herschel’s discovery of Uranus in this region of the sky in 1781.

  • Hyginus (1485) figure: Auriga

    Image

    Hyginus-1485-Auriga

    Driven by both oxen and horses. Note the kids (baby goats).

Pagination

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Tau - Taurus the Bull

IAU Constellation
Tau - Taurus the Bull

Size

17 of 88
Astronomical Regions
Zodiac
Northern
Equatorial

Intro and Visual description

Taurus the Bull is easily spotted. Its head is the Hyades, a V-shaped cluster of stars. His horns point outward from the V. Aldebaran is the red eye of the Bull as he charges down upon us.

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Kerry Magruder, Brent Purkaple, and Aja Tolman, editors, "The Sky Tonight: Cultural Archaeology of the Stars" (December 21, 2019 - ongoing), skytonight.org.


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