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Electra (star)
Electra , designated 17 Tauri, is a blue-white giant star in the constellation of Taurus (constellation), Taurus. It is the third-brightest star in the Pleiades Open cluster, open star cluster (Messier object, M45); the most visible stars in this group are named for the Pleiades (Greek mythology), Seven Sisters of Greek mythology. Properties The star has an apparent brightness of 3.72, the third-brightest of the stars in the group. Electra belongs to the spectral class B6 IIIe and is approximately 400 light-years from the Sun. The Pleiades cluster is thought to be 444 light-years away. The stellar rotation, projected rotational velocity of this star is 181 km/s, making it a fast rotator. This is the velocity component of the star's equatorial rotation along the line of sight to the Earth. The estimated inclination of the star's pole is , giving it a true equatorial rotational velocity of . The rapid rotation rate of this star flattens the poles and stretch the equa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Taurus (constellation)
Taurus (Latin for "the Bull") is one of the constellations of the zodiac and is located in the northern celestial hemisphere. Taurus is a large and prominent constellation in the Northern Hemisphere's winter sky. It is one of the oldest constellations, dating back to the Early Bronze Age at least, when it marked the location of the Sun during the spring equinox. Its importance to the agricultural calendar influenced various bull figures in the mythologies of Ancient Sumer, Akkad, Assyria, Babylon, Egypt, Greece, and Rome. Its old astronomical symbol is (♉︎), which resembles a bull's head. A number of features exist that are of interest to astronomers. Taurus hosts two of the nearest open clusters to Earth, the Pleiades and the Hyades, both of which are visible to the naked eye. At first magnitude, the red giant Aldebaran is the brightest star in the constellation. In the northeast part of Taurus is Messier 1, more commonly known as the Crab Nebula, a supernova remn ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
