Star profile

Lambda Tauri

Variable star

3D likeness based on its real data · class B · ~15,000 K

What is Lambda Tauri

Lambda Tauri is one of Taurus’s classic Algol-type eclipsing binaries: every few days an unseen companion drifts in front and steals a measurable share of its blue light, the steady wink that nineteenth-century astronomers seized upon to chart the mechanics of distant suns. A B-type star some 484 light-years off, it belongs to the older herd of hot giants that populate the Bull, far from the cluster of the Hyades but under the same winter ceiling of the northern night.

Where it is and when to see it

Lambda Tauri lies in the northern celestial hemisphere. It is visible to the naked eye under a dark sky. Its best month of the year is November, when it culminates around midnight.

From London it culminates about 51° above the horizon.
From New York it culminates about 62° above the horizon.
From Sydney it culminates about 44° above the horizon.

It can be seen from anywhere north of 78° S.

It ranks no. 6 in brightness among the 144 stars of Taurus in our catalogue. To find it, start from Aldebaran, the brightest: it lies about 9° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).

The light you see today left it about 480 years ago.

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Astronomical data for Lambda Tauri

Constellation: Taurus
Apparent magnitude: 3.41
Distance: 484.0 light years
Coordinates (J2000): RA 60.170° · Dec 12.490°
Catalogue: HIP 18724 · HD 25204

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Other stars in Taurus

Taurus has 144 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.

See all 144 stars in Taurus