Aldebaran

The position of Aldebaran in the Taurus constellation

Aldebaran (α Tau, α Tauri, Alpha Tauri) is an orange giant star.^[1]^[2] It is about 65 light years away in the zodiac constellation of Taurus. With an average apparent magnitude of 0.87 it is the brightest star in the constellation and is one of the brightest stars in the nighttime sky.

The diameter of Aldebaran is 61,277,920 km which is 38,076,334 miles. The planetary exploration probe Pioneer 10 is heading in the general direction of the star. It should make its closest approach in about two million years.

Aldebaran compared to Rigel, Bellatrix, Alpha Centauri A, and the Sun.

In 1993 a companion body was reported. A paper recently accepted shows evidence for a planetary companion.^[3]

Name: The name Aldebaran is Arabic (الدبران <span title="Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Language/data/ISO 639 override' not found. transliteration" class="Unicode" style="white-space:normal; text-decoration: none">al-dabarān) and means "the Follower", probably because it rises near and soon after the Pleiades.^[4]

Aldebaran Media

Aldebaran is the brightest star in the constellation of Taurus (center).
Aldebaran in the Hyades
Occultation of Aldebaran by the Moon. Aldebaran is the red dot to the right, barely visible in the thumbnail.
Size comparison between Aldebaran and the Sun
Italian frigate Aldebaran (F 590)

References

↑ "Oxford Dictionary: Aldebaran". Archived from the original on 2015-06-09. Retrieved 2016-01-17.
↑ Merriam-Webster: Aldebaran
↑ Hatzes A.P; Cochran W.D. et al 2015. Long-lived, long-period radial velocity variations in Aldebaran: a planetary companion and stellar activity. Astronomy and Astrophysics. [1]
↑ Kaler, James B. (May 22, 2009). "Aldebaran". Stars. Archived from the original on 10 January 2010. Retrieved 2009-12-20.

[1] "Oxford Dictionary: Aldebaran". Archived from the original on 2015-06-09. Retrieved 2016-01-17.

[2] Merriam-Webster: Aldebaran

[3] Hatzes A.P; Cochran W.D. et al 2015. Long-lived, long-period radial velocity variations in Aldebaran: a planetary companion and stellar activity. Astronomy and Astrophysics. [1]

[Kaler-4] Kaler, James B. (May 22, 2009). "Aldebaran". Stars. Archived from the original on 10 January 2010. Retrieved 2009-12-20.

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