Abbreviation: Tau
Genitive: Tauri
Right Ascension: 4.27 hours
Declination: 18.87 degrees
Taurus, the Bull, can be seen during the winter and the early spring in the Northern Hemisphere and from November to February from the Southern Hemisphere.
Taurus is another of the earliest known constellations, and so also probably orginated from the Babylonians.
To the Greeks, Taurus was one of the two bulls with brazen feet that were tamed by Jason of the Argonauts.
In Taurean myth, Zeus swam out to Crete as a bull and seduced Eurpopa who bore a son, Minos, father of Minotaur, a half man and half bull monster. Minotaur was locked in a Labyrinth and ate human flesh. Minotaur was killed by Theseus when he was helped by Adiadne's ball of thread.
Taurus was also referred to as being rich in maidens (the Hyades and the Pleiades, all daughters of Atlas).
