Aldebaran: The Brightest Star in the Constellation Taurus

Like many stars, the roots of the name "Aldebaran" are found with the Arabic astronomers whose star nomenclature is so prominent in early star catalogs. "Aldebaran" comes from the Arabic phrase "al Dabarān," which translates as "the follower." This is because Aldebaran follows the open star cluster Pleiades across the sky; both are in the constellation Taurus. In ancient Persia, the orange giant star was one of the four "Royal Stars" considered to be guardians of the heavens.

Aldebaran is also named Alpha Tauri, as it is the brightest star in the constellation Taurus. Aldebaran holds a special place in the graphical depictions of Taurus, the bull. In most drawings, this bright star takes its place as the eye of the bull, bright and orange-red. This makes sense as the bull charges at the neighboring constellation of Orion.

To locate Aldebaran in the night sky, first search for the easily identifiable constellation Orion, particularly its three stars, the closely spaced, nearly straight-line stars known as Orion's Belt. Once you've spotted Orion's Belt, draw an imaginary line through these stars and extend it to the west (or to the right if you're in the Northern Hemisphere). This will lead you directly to Aldebaran, the first bright star you'll see along that line.

If you're observing in a location with minimal light pollution, you might also make out the V-shape pattern of the Hyades star cluster surrounding Aldebaran, further confirming its identification.

Aldebaran is not just the brightest star in the constellation Taurus, it's also the 14th brightest star in the sky. This makes it roughly as bright as Antares, also called Alpha Scorpii, and Pollux, which is part of the pair of bright stars in Gemini (along with Castor).

What makes Aldebaran so bright is both its size and luminosity. The orange giant is about 44 times the size of our sun and over 400 times more luminous. This is how we are able to spot it so brightly in the evening sky despite its being over 66 light-years from Earth.

Because it is so eye-catching, Aldebaran features prominently in the mythologies of many cultures who can see it in the night sky.

The Seris people of northwestern Mexico call Aldebaran by other names, including Hant Caalajc Ipápjö, Queeto and Azoj Yeen oo Caap ("star that goes ahead"). In Hindu astronomy, Aldebaran is identified as the lunar mansion Rohini ("the red one") and as one of the 27 daughters of Daksha and the wife of the god Chandra (the moon). The ancient Greek astronomers called it "Lampadias," literally "torch-like" or "torch-bearer," which is astonishingly similar to the Seris myth that Aldebaran provides light to the seven women giving birth as the Pleiades.

Through different cultures, Aldebaran's brightness and proximity to other notable stars has played into the role it has taken in various astronomy mythologies.

If you look up into the night sky, you may notice that Aldebaran is surrounded by a number of faint stars, one of which is Alpha Tauri B. Aldebaran is orbited by at least one exoplanet — or planet outside our solar system. Known as Aldebaran b, the primary exoplanet orbiting Aldebaran is roughly 6.5 times larger than Jupiter.

Aldebaran b was initially detected in 1993, but it took until 2015 for its existence to be confirmed; new data in 2019 cast doubts on the existence of Aldebaran b again, so it is still considered a candidate exoplanet until better data can provide a clearer answer on whether or not it exists.

Unfortunately, even if Aldebaran b exists, it is an unlikely candidate for carbon-based life. Its surface temperature is roughly 2,240 degrees Fahrenheit (1,500 degrees Kelvin or 1,227 degrees Celsius) and it receives large amounts of radiation from its host star, Aldebaran. So even if we could reach it in a timely fashion once confirming its existence, don't expect to hear about colonies on Aldebaran b for a while.

This article was updated in conjunction with AI technology, then fact-checked and edited by a HowStuffWorks editor.