Aldebaran () is a

star A star is a luminous spheroid of plasma (physics), plasma held together by Self-gravitation, self-gravity. The List of nearest stars and brown dwarfs, nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked eye at night sk ...

in the

zodiac The zodiac is a belt-shaped region of the sky that extends approximately 8° north and south celestial latitude of the ecliptic – the apparent path of the Sun across the celestial sphere over the course of the year. Within this zodiac ...

constellation A constellation is an area on the celestial sphere in which a group of visible stars forms Asterism (astronomy), a perceived pattern or outline, typically representing an animal, mythological subject, or inanimate object. The first constellati ...

of Taurus. It has the

Bayer designation A Bayer designation is a stellar designation in which a specific star is identified by a Greek alphabet, Greek or Latin letter followed by the genitive case, genitive form of its parent constellation's Latin name. The original list of Bayer design ...

α Tauri, which is Latinized to Alpha Tauri and abbreviated Alpha Tau or α Tau. Aldebaran varies in brightness from an apparent visual magnitude of 0.75 down to 0.95, making it the brightest star in the constellation, as well as (typically) the fourteenth-brightest star in the night sky. It is at a distance of approximately 67

light-year A light-year, alternatively spelled light year (ly or lyr), is a unit of length used to express astronomical distances and is equal to exactly , which is approximately 9.46 trillion km or 5.88 trillion mi. As defined by the International Astr ...

s. The star lies along the line of sight to the nearby Hyades cluster. Aldebaran is a red giant, meaning that it is cooler than the Sun with a surface temperature of , but its radius is about 45 times the Sun's, so it is over 400 times as luminous. As a giant star, it has moved off the

main sequence In astronomy, the main sequence is a classification of stars which appear on plots of stellar color index, color versus absolute magnitude, brightness as a continuous and distinctive band. Stars on this band are known as main-sequence stars or d ...

on the Hertzsprung–Russell diagram after depleting its supply of hydrogen in the core. The star spins slowly and takes 520 days to complete a rotation. Together with the star Alpha Tauri B (Alderbaran B), it makes a

star system A star system or stellar system is a small number of stars that orbit each other, bound by gravity, gravitational attraction. It may sometimes be used to refer to a single star. A large group of stars bound by gravitation is generally calle ...

with an orbital separation of at least 680

astronomical unit The astronomical unit (symbol: au or AU) is a unit of length defined to be exactly equal to . Historically, the astronomical unit was conceived as the average Earth-Sun distance (the average of Earth's aphelion and perihelion), before its m ...

s, or 680 times the average distance from Earth to the Sun. The companion has an apparent magnitude of 13.21, hence is 80,000 to 96,000 times fainter than Aldebaran.

Nomenclature

The traditional name Aldebaran derives from the Arabic (), meaning , because it seems to follow the

Pleiades The Pleiades (), also known as Seven Sisters and Messier 45 (M45), is an Asterism (astronomy), asterism of an open cluster, open star cluster containing young Stellar classification#Class B, B-type stars in the northwest of the constellation Tau ...

. In 2016, the

International Astronomical Union The International Astronomical Union (IAU; , UAI) is an international non-governmental organization (INGO) with the objective of advancing astronomy in all aspects, including promoting astronomical research, outreach, education, and developmen ...

Working Group on Star Names (WGSN) approved the proper name ''Aldebaran'' for this star. Aldebaran is the brightest star in the constellation Taurus, with the

α Tauri, Latinised as Alpha Tauri. It has the Flamsteed designation 87 Tauri as the 87th star in the constellation of approximately 7th magnitude or brighter, ordered by

right ascension Right ascension (abbreviated RA; symbol ) is the angular distance of a particular point measured eastward along the celestial equator from the Sun at the equinox (celestial coordinates), March equinox to the (hour circle of the) point in questio ...

. It also has the Bright Star Catalogue number 1457, the HD number 29139, and the

Hipparcos ''Hipparcos'' was a scientific satellite of the European Space Agency (ESA), launched in 1989 and operated until 1993. It was the first space experiment devoted to precision astrometry, the accurate measurement of the positions and distances of ...

catalogue number 21421, mostly seen in scientific publications. It is a variable star listed in the

General Catalogue of Variable Stars The General Catalogue of Variable Stars (GCVS) is a list of variable stars in the Milky Way Galaxy. Its first edition, containing 10,820 stars, was published in 1948 by the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, edited by and Pavel Parenago. Second a ...

, but it is listed using its Bayer designation and does not have a separate variable star designation. Aldebaran and several nearby stars are included in double star catalogues such as the Washington Double Star Catalog as WDS 04359+1631 and the Aitken Double Star Catalogue as ADS 3321. It was included with an 11th-magnitude companion as a double star as H IV 66 in the Herschel Catalogue of Double Stars and Σ II 2 in the Struve Double Star Catalog, and together with a 14th-magnitude star as β 550 in the Burnham Double Star Catalogue.

Observation

Aldebaran is one of the easiest stars to find in the

night sky The night sky is the nighttime appearance of celestial objects like stars, planets, and the Moon, which are visible in a clear sky between sunset and sunrise, when the Sun is below the horizon. Natural light sources in a night sky include moonlig ...

, partly due to its brightness and partly due to being near one of the more noticeable asterisms in the sky. Following the three stars of Orion's belt in the direction opposite to Sirius, the first bright star encountered is Aldebaran. It is best seen at midnight between late November and early December. The star is, by chance, in the line of sight between the Earth and the Hyades, so it has the appearance of being the brightest member of the

open cluster An open cluster is a type of star cluster made of tens to a few thousand stars that were formed from the same giant molecular cloud and have roughly the same age. More than 1,100 open clusters have been discovered within the Milky Way galaxy, and ...

, but the cluster that forms the bull's-head-shaped asterism is more than twice as far away, at about 150 light years. Aldebaran is 5.47 degrees south of the

ecliptic The ecliptic or ecliptic plane is the orbital plane of Earth's orbit, Earth around the Sun. It was a central concept in a number of ancient sciences, providing the framework for key measurements in astronomy, astrology and calendar-making. Fr ...

and so can be occulted by the

Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It Orbit of the Moon, orbits around Earth at Lunar distance, an average distance of (; about 30 times Earth diameter, Earth's diameter). The Moon rotation, rotates, with a rotation period (lunar ...

. Such occultations occur when the Moon's ascending node is near the autumnal equinox. A series of 49 occultations occurred starting on 29 January 2015 and ending at 3 September 2018. Each event was visible from points in the

northern hemisphere The Northern Hemisphere is the half of Earth that is north of the equator. For other planets in the Solar System, north is defined by humans as being in the same celestial sphere, celestial hemisphere relative to the invariable plane of the Solar ...

or close to the

equator The equator is the circle of latitude that divides Earth into the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Southern Hemisphere, Southern Hemispheres of Earth, hemispheres. It is an imaginary line located at 0 degrees latitude, about in circumferen ...

; people in e.g. Australia or

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

can never observe an Aldebaran occultation since it is too far south of the ecliptic. A reasonably accurate estimate for the diameter of Aldebaran was obtained during the occultation of 22 September 1978. In the 2020s, Aldebaran is in conjunction in ecliptic longitude with the sun around May 30 of each year. With a near-

infrared Infrared (IR; sometimes called infrared light) is electromagnetic radiation (EMR) with wavelengths longer than that of visible light but shorter than microwaves. The infrared spectral band begins with the waves that are just longer than those ...

J band magnitude of −2.1, only

Betelgeuse Betelgeuse is a red supergiant star in the constellation of Orion (constellation), Orion. It is usually the List of brightest stars, tenth-brightest star in the night sky and, after Rigel, the second brightest in its constellation. It i ...

(−2.9), R Doradus (−2.6), and

Arcturus , - bgcolor="#FFFAFA" , Note (category: variability): , , H and K emission vary. Arcturus is a red giant star in the Northern celestial hemisphere, northern constellation of Boötes, and the brightest star in the constellation. It ha ...

(−2.2) are brighter at that wavelength.

Observational history

On 11 March AD 509, a lunar

occultation An occultation is an event that occurs when one object is hidden from the observer by another object that passes between them. The term is often used in astronomy, but can also refer to any situation in which an object in the foreground blocks f ...

of Aldebaran was observed in

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

. English astronomer Edmund Halley studied the timing of this event, and in 1718 concluded that Aldebaran must have changed position since that time, moving several minutes of arc further to the north. This, as well as observations of the changing positions of stars Sirius and

, led to the discovery of

proper motion Proper motion is the astrometric measure of changes in the apparent places of stars or other celestial objects as they move relative to the center of mass of the Solar System. It is measured relative to the distant stars or a stable referenc ...

. Based on present day observations, the position of Aldebaran has shifted 7′ in the last 2000 years; roughly a quarter the diameter of the full moon. Due to

precession of the equinoxes In astronomy, axial precession is a gravity-induced, slow, and continuous change in the orientation of an astronomical body's Rotation around a fixed axis, rotational axis. In the absence of precession, the astronomical body's orbit would show ...

, 5,000 years ago the vernal equinox was close to Aldebaran. Between 420,000 and 210,000 years ago, Aldebaran was the brightest star in the night sky, – based on computations from

HIPPARCOS ''Hipparcos'' was a scientific satellite of the European Space Agency (ESA), launched in 1989 and operated until 1993. It was the first space experiment devoted to precision astrometry, the accurate measurement of the positions and distances of ...

data. (The calculations exclude stars whose distance or

is uncertain.) tp://tlgleonid.asuscomm.com/HITACHI/BOOK_ASTRO/S&T/SkyandTelescope_1998%20-%20astronomy/04/199804059063.pdf PDF/ref> peaking in brightness 320,000 years ago with an apparent magnitude of . English astronomer

William Herschel Frederick William Herschel ( ; ; 15 November 1738 – 25 August 1822) was a German-British astronomer and composer. He frequently collaborated with his younger sister and fellow astronomer Caroline Herschel. Born in the Electorate of Hanover ...

discovered a faint companion to Aldebaran in 1782; an 11th-magnitude star at an angular separation of 117 ″. This star was shown to be itself a close double star by S. W. Burnham in 1888, and he discovered an additional 14th-magnitude companion at an angular separation of 31″. Follow-on measurements of proper motion showed that Herschel's companion was diverging from Aldebaran, and hence they were not physically connected. However, the companion discovered by Burnham had almost exactly the same proper motion as Aldebaran, suggesting that the two formed a wide binary star system. Working at his private observatory in Tulse Hill,

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, in 1864 William Huggins performed the first studies of the spectrum of Aldebaran, where he was able to identify the lines of nine elements, including

iron Iron is a chemical element; it has symbol Fe () and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, forming much of Earth's o ...

sodium Sodium is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Na (from Neo-Latin ) and atomic number 11. It is a soft, silvery-white, highly reactive metal. Sodium is an alkali metal, being in group 1 element, group 1 of the peri ...

calcium Calcium is a chemical element; it has symbol Ca and atomic number 20. As an alkaline earth metal, calcium is a reactive metal that forms a dark oxide-nitride layer when exposed to air. Its physical and chemical properties are most similar to it ...

, and

magnesium Magnesium is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Mg and atomic number 12. It is a shiny gray metal having a low density, low melting point and high chemical reactivity. Like the other alkaline earth metals (group 2 ...

. In 1886, Edward C. Pickering at the

Harvard College Observatory The Harvard College Observatory (HCO) is an institution managing a complex of buildings and multiple instruments used for astronomical research by the Harvard University Department of Astronomy. It is located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United St ...

used a photographic plate to capture fifty absorption lines in the spectrum of Aldebaran. This became part of the Draper Catalogue, published in 1890. By 1887, the photographic technique had improved to the point that it was possible to measure a star's radial velocity from the amount of

Doppler shift The Doppler effect (also Doppler shift) is the change in the frequency of a wave in relation to an observer who is moving relative to the source of the wave. The ''Doppler effect'' is named after the physicist Christian Doppler, who described t ...

in the spectrum. By this means, the recession velocity of Aldebaran was estimated as (48 km/s), using measurements performed at Potsdam Observatory by Hermann C. Vogel and his assistant

Julius Scheiner Julius Scheiner (25 November 1858 – 20 December 1913) was a German astronomer, born in Cologne and educated at Bonn. He became assistant at the astrophysical observatory in Potsdam in 1887 and its observer in chief in 1898, three years after ...

. Aldebaran was observed using an interferometer attached to the Hooker Telescope at the

Mount Wilson Observatory The Mount Wilson Observatory (MWO) is an Observatory#Astronomical observatories, astronomical observatory in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The MWO is located on Mount Wilson (California), Mount Wilson, a peak in the San Gabrie ...

in 1921 in order to measure its

angular diameter The angular diameter, angular size, apparent diameter, or apparent size is an angular separation (in units of angle) describing how large a sphere or circle appears from a given point of view. In the vision sciences, it is called the ''visual an ...

, but it was not resolved in these observations. The extensive history of observations of Aldebaran led to it being included in the list of 33 stars chosen as benchmarks for the Gaia mission to calibrate derived stellar parameters. It had previously been used to calibrate instruments on board the

Hubble Space Telescope The Hubble Space Telescope (HST or Hubble) is a space telescope that was launched into low Earth orbit in 1990 and remains in operation. It was not the Orbiting Solar Observatory, first space telescope, but it is one of the largest and most ...

Physical characteristics

Aldebaran is listed as the spectral standard for type K5+ III stars. Its spectrum shows that it is a giant star that has evolved off the

band of the HR diagram after exhausting the

hydrogen Hydrogen is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol H and atomic number 1. It is the lightest and abundance of the chemical elements, most abundant chemical element in the universe, constituting about 75% of all baryon, normal matter ...

at its core. The collapse of the center of the star into a degenerate

helium Helium (from ) is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol He and atomic number 2. It is a colorless, odorless, non-toxic, inert gas, inert, monatomic gas and the first in the noble gas group in the periodic table. Its boiling point is ...

core has ignited a shell of hydrogen outside the core and Aldebaran is now on the

red giant branch The red-giant branch (RGB), sometimes called the first giant branch, is the portion of the giant branch before helium ignition occurs in the course of stellar evolution. It is a stage that follows the main sequence for low- to intermediate-mass st ...

(RGB). The

effective temperature The effective temperature of a body such as a star or planet is the temperature of a black body that would emit the same total amount of electromagnetic radiation. Effective temperature is often used as an estimate of a body's surface temperature ...

of Aldebaran's

photosphere The photosphere is a star's outer shell from which light is radiated. It extends into a star's surface until the plasma becomes opaque, equivalent to an optical depth of approximately , or equivalently, a depth from which 50% of light will esc ...

is . It has a surface gravity of , typical for a giant star, but around 35 times lower than the Earth's and nearly a thousand times lower than the Sun's. Its

metallicity In astronomy, metallicity is the Abundance of the chemical elements, abundance of Chemical element, elements present in an object that are heavier than hydrogen and helium. Most of the normal currently detectable (i.e. non-Dark matter, dark) matt ...

is about half the Sun's. Measurements by the

satellite and other sources put Aldebaran around away. Asteroseismology has determined that it is about 16% more massive than the Sun, yet it shines with 439 times the Sun's luminosity due to the expanded radius. It is 45.1 times the diameter of the Sun, approximately 63 million kilometres. The angular diameter of Aldebaran has been measured many times. The value adopted as part of the Gaia benchmark calibration is . Aldebaran is a slightly

variable star A variable star is a star whose brightness as seen from Earth (its apparent magnitude) changes systematically with time. This variation may be caused by a change in emitted light or by something partly blocking the light, so variable stars are ...

, assigned to the slow irregular type ''LB''. The

indicates variation between apparent magnitude 0.75 and 0.95 from historical reports. Modern studies show a smaller amplitude, with some showing almost no variation. Hipparcos photometry shows an amplitude of only about 0.02 magnitudes and a possible period around 18 days. Intensive ground-based photometry showed variations of up to 0.03 magnitudes and a possible period around 91 days. Analysis of observations over a much longer period still find a total amplitude likely to be less than 0.1 magnitudes, and the variation is considered to be irregular. The

shows abundances of

carbon Carbon () is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol C and atomic number 6. It is nonmetallic and tetravalence, tetravalent—meaning that its atoms are able to form up to four covalent bonds due to its valence shell exhibiting 4 ...

oxygen Oxygen is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group (periodic table), group in the periodic table, a highly reactivity (chemistry), reactive nonmetal (chemistry), non ...

, and

nitrogen Nitrogen is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol N and atomic number 7. Nitrogen is a Nonmetal (chemistry), nonmetal and the lightest member of pnictogen, group 15 of the periodic table, often called the Pnictogen, pnictogens. ...

that suggest the giant has gone through its first

dredge-up A dredge-up is any one of several stages in the evolution of some stars. By definition, during a ''dredge-up'', a convection zone extends all the way from the star's surface down to the layers of material that have undergone fusion. Consequently, ...

stage—a normal step in the evolution of a star into a red giant during which material from deep within the star is brought up to the surface by

convection Convection is single or Multiphase flow, multiphase fluid flow that occurs Spontaneous process, spontaneously through the combined effects of material property heterogeneity and body forces on a fluid, most commonly density and gravity (see buoy ...

. With its slow rotation, Aldebaran lacks a dynamo needed to generate a corona and hence is not a source of hard X-ray emission. However, small scale magnetic fields may still be present in the lower atmosphere, resulting from convection turbulence near the surface. The measured strength of the magnetic field on Aldebaran is . Any resulting soft X-ray emissions from this region may be attenuated by the

chromosphere A chromosphere ("sphere of color", from the Ancient Greek words χρῶμα (''khrôma'') 'color' and σφαῖρα (''sphaîra'') 'sphere') is the second layer of a Stellar atmosphere, star's atmosphere, located above the photosphere and below t ...

, although ultraviolet emission has been detected in the

spectrum A spectrum (: spectra or spectrums) is a set of related ideas, objects, or properties whose features overlap such that they blend to form a continuum. The word ''spectrum'' was first used scientifically in optics to describe the rainbow of co ...

. The star is currently losing mass at a rate of (about one

Earth mass An Earth mass (denoted as ''M''🜨, ''M''♁ or ''M''E, where 🜨 and ♁ are the astronomical symbols for Earth), is a unit of mass equal to the mass of the planet Earth. The current best estimate for the mass of Earth is , with a relative ...

in 300,000 years) with a velocity of . This

stellar wind A stellar wind is a flow of gas ejected from the stellar atmosphere, upper atmosphere of a star. It is distinguished from the bipolar outflows characteristic of young stars by being less collimated, although stellar winds are not generally spheri ...

may be generated by the weak magnetic fields in the lower atmosphere. Beyond the chromosphere of Aldebaran is an extended molecular outer atmosphere (''MOLsphere'') where the temperature is cool enough for molecules of gas to form. This region lies at about 2.5 times the radius of the star and has a temperature of about . The spectrum reveals lines of

carbon monoxide Carbon monoxide (chemical formula CO) is a poisonous, flammable gas that is colorless, odorless, tasteless, and slightly less dense than air. Carbon monoxide consists of one carbon atom and one oxygen atom connected by a triple bond. It is the si ...

water Water is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula . It is a transparent, tasteless, odorless, and Color of water, nearly colorless chemical substance. It is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known liv ...

, and titanium oxide. Outside the MOLSphere, the stellar wind continues to expand until it reaches the termination shock boundary with the hot, ionized

interstellar medium The interstellar medium (ISM) is the matter and radiation that exists in the outer space, space between the star systems in a galaxy. This matter includes gas in ionic, atomic, and molecular form, as well as cosmic dust, dust and cosmic rays. It f ...

that dominates the

Local Bubble The Local Bubble, or Local Cavity, is a relative superbubble, cavity in the interstellar medium (ISM) of the Orion Arm in the Milky Way. It contains the List of nearest stars and brown dwarfs, nearest stars and brown dwarfs and, among others, the ...

, forming a roughly spherical astrosphere with a radius of around , centered on Aldebaran.

Companion

Measurements by the Gaia spacecraft have identified a proper motion companion to Aldebaran a star sharing a similar distance and relative motion, which are seen as hints for a physical association between the components. , it has an angular separation of 33" from Aldebaran along a

position angle In astronomy, position angle (usually abbreviated PA) is the convention for measuring angles on the sky. The International Astronomical Union defines it as the angle measured relative to the Celestial pole, north celestial pole (NCP), turning pos ...

of 117°. At its distance, the angular separation implies a physical projected separation of 680

s. The companion star, named Alpha Tauri B or Aldebaran B, has an

apparent magnitude Apparent magnitude () is a measure of the Irradiance, brightness of a star, astronomical object or other celestial objects like artificial satellites. Its value depends on its intrinsic luminosity, its distance, and any extinction (astronomy), ...

of 13.2, which is 80,000 to 96,000 times fainter than Aldebaran. It is also much smaller than Aldebaran, with a radius 0.35 times that of the Sun and a mass 0.400 times that of the Sun. A spectral type of M2.5 has been published for the star.

Visual companions

Four further stars at least as bright as B appear close to Aldebaran in the sky. These double star components were given upper-case

Latin letter The Latin script, also known as the Roman script, is a writing system based on the letters of the classical Latin alphabet, derived from a form of the Greek alphabet which was in use in the ancient Greek city of Cumae in Magna Graecia. The Gree ...

designations more or less in the order of their discovery, with the letter A reserved for the primary star. Some characteristics of these components, including their position relative to Aldebaran, are shown in the table. Alpha Tauri CD is a binary system with the C and D component stars gravitationally bound to and co-orbiting each other. These co-orbiting stars have been shown to be located far beyond Aldebaran and are members of the Hyades star cluster. As with the rest of the stars in the cluster they do not physically interact with Aldebaran in any way.

Planetary system

In 1993 radial velocity measurements of Aldebaran,

and Pollux showed that Aldebaran exhibited a long-period radial velocity oscillation, which could be interpreted as a substellar companion. The measurements for Aldebaran implied a companion with a minimum mass 11.4 times that of

Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the List of Solar System objects by size, largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a Jupiter mass, mass more than 2.5 times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined a ...

in a 643-day orbit at a separation of in a mildly eccentric orbit. However, all three stars surveyed showed similar oscillations yielding similar companion masses, and the authors concluded that the variation was likely to be intrinsic to the star rather than due to the gravitational effect of a companion. In 2015 a study led by Artie P. Hatzes showed stable long-term evidence for both a planetary companion and stellar activity. An asteroseismic analysis of the residuals to the planet fit has determined that Aldebaran b has a minimum mass of Jupiter masses, and that when the star was on the main sequence it would have given this planet Earth-like levels of illumination and therefore, potentially, temperature. This would have placed it and any of its moons in the

habitable zone In astronomy and astrobiology, the habitable zone (HZ), or more precisely the circumstellar habitable zone (CHZ), is the range of orbits around a star within which a planetary surface can support liquid water given sufficient atmospheric pressu ...

. However, a follow-up study in 2019 found that additional data weaken the evidence for a planetary companion. A two-planet solution fits the data better but would be unstable; the more likely explanation is that the radial velocity variations are caused by intrinsic stellar oscillations that mimic a planetary companion, as observed in Gamma Draconis and 42 Draconis. Based on the 2019 study, some subsequent studies of planet candidates around giant stars consider Aldebaran b doubtful or disproven, including a 2025 paper with Hatzes as the lead author.

Etymology and mythology

Aldebaran was originally ( in Arabic), meaning , since it follows the Pleiades; in fact, the Arabs sometimes also applied‍ the name to the Hyades as a whole. A variety of transliterated spellings have been used, with the current ''Aldebaran'' becoming standard relatively recently.

Mythology

This easily seen and striking star in its suggestive asterism (astronomy), asterism is a popular subject for ancient and modern myths. * Mexican culture: For the Seri people, Seris of northwestern Mexico, this star provides light for the seven women giving birth (

). It has three names: ', ', and ' (). The lunar month corresponding to October is called ' . * Indigenous Australian, Australian Aboriginal culture: amongst indigenous people of the Clarence River, in north-eastern New South Wales, this star is the ancestor ''Karambal'', who stole another man's wife. The woman's husband tracked him down and burned the tree in which he was hiding. It is believed that he rose to the sky as smoke and became the star Aldebaran. * Persian culture: Aldebaran is considered one of the 4 "royal stars".

Names in other languages

* In Hindu astronomy, it is identified as the lunar station Rohini. In Hindu mythology, Rohini (goddess), Rohini is one of the twenty-seven daughters of the sage-king Daksha and Asikni (goddess), Asikni, and the favourite wife of the moon god, Chandra. * In Persia, it was known as Tascheter. * In Ancient Greek, it has been called , literally or . * In Chinese astronomy, (), meaning Net (Chinese constellation), , refers to an Asterism (astronomy), asterism consisting of Aldebaran, Epsilon Tauri, ε Tauri, Delta3 Tauri, δ³ Tauri, Delta1 Tauri, δ¹ Tauri, Gamma Tauri, γ Tauri, 71 Tauri and Lambda Tauri, λ Tauri. Consequently, the Chinese star names, Chinese name for Aldebaran itself is (), . * In Hawaiian language, Hawaiian, the star is named ''Kapuahi''. * In Biblical Hebrew, עָשׁ (''ʿāš)'' in Job 9, Job 9:9 and עַ֫יִשׁ (''ʿayiš'') in Job 38, Job 38:32 have been identified with it and translated accordingly in English versions such as New Jewish Publication Society of America Tanakh, NJPS and Revised English Bible, REB.

In modern culture

As the brightest star in a Zodiac constellation, it is given Stars in astrology#Aldebaran, great significance within astrology. Irish singer and composer Enya has a piece released on her eponymous album in 1986, which lyricist Roma Ryan titled Aldebaran after the star in Taurus. The name Aldebaran or Alpha Tauri has been adopted many times, including * Aldebaran Rock in Antarctica * United States Navy stores ship and * proposed micro-satellite launch vehicle Aldebaran (rocket), Aldebaran * French company Aldebaran Robotics * Fashion brand AlphaTauri (fashion brand), AlphaTauri * Formula 1 team Scuderia AlphaTauri, active from to , previously known as Toro Rosso * One of the chariot race horses owned by Sheikh Ilderim in the movie ''Ben-Hur (1959 film), Ben-Hur'' The star also appears in works of fiction such as ''Far from the Madding Crowd'' (1874) and ''Down and Out in Paris and London'' (1933). It is frequently seen in science fiction, including the Lensman series, ''Lensman'' series (1948–1954), ''Fallen Dragon'' (2001) and passingly in Kim Stanley Robinson's "Blue Mars" (1996). Aldebaran is associated with Hastur, also known as The King in Yellow, in the horror stories of Robert W. Chambers.Harms, ''The Encyclopedia Cthulhiana'', p. 136. In the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode 'Relics', Montgomery Scott and Captain Jean-Luc Picard drink "Aldebaran whisky". Aldebaran regularly features in Conspiracy theory, conspiracy theories as one of the origins of List of alleged extraterrestrial beings, extraterrestrial aliens, often linked to Nazi UFOs. A well-known example is the German conspiracy theorist Axel Stoll, who considered the star the home of the Aryan#Nazism and white supremacy, Aryan race and the target of expeditions by the ''Wehrmacht''. The planetary exploration probe ''Pioneer 10'' is no longer powered or in contact with Earth, but its trajectory is taking it in the general direction of Aldebaran. It is expected to make its closest approach in about two million years. The Austrian chemist Carl Auer von Welsbach proposed the name ''aldebaranium'' (chemical symbol Ad) for a rare earth element that he (among others) had found. Today, it is called ytterbium (symbol Yb).

Notes

References

External links

*
Daytime occultation of Aldebaran by the Moon (Moscow, Russia)
YouTube video {{DEFAULTSORT:Aldebaran Aldebaran, K-type giants Slow irregular variables Hypothetical planetary systems Binary stars Taurus (constellation) Bayer objects, Tauri, Alpha Bright Star Catalogue objects, 1457 Durchmusterung objects, BD+16 0629 Flamsteed objects, Tauri, 087 Gliese and GJ objects, 0171.1 Henry Draper Catalogue objects, 029139 Hipparcos objects, 021421 Stars with proper names TIC objects, 245873777