StarDate

Moon and Aldebaran


Listen Later

A bright star follows the gibbous Moon across the sky late tonight. That seems appropriate, since the star’s name means “the Follower.”

Aldebaran is the bright orange eye of Taurus, the bull. It’ll stand to the lower left of the Moon as they climb into good view, after midnight, and even closer to the Moon at first light.

The name “Aldebaran” is from an ancient Arabic phrase that meant “the Follower.” The star was called that because it follows the Pleiades — a star cluster that looks like a tiny dipper. It’s to the right of Aldebaran and the Moon at dawn, leading them across the sky.

Aldebaran isn’t the only name for this bright, beautiful star. In fact, it has quite a few.

As the leading light of Taurus, for example, it’s assigned the first letter of the Greek alphabet, so it’s known as Alpha Tauri.

Many of its designations come from catalogs. Astronomers have compiled many different star catalogs, based on different traits. The Henry Draper catalog, for example, lists stars based on the breakdown of their light. The Gliese catalog lists the stars that are close by. And the Hipparcos catalog lists the more than 100,000 stars that had their distances measured by a space telescope.

In these catalogs, Aldebaran is listed as HD 29139, GJ 9159, and HIP 21421. They’re not the most poetic or inspiring names, but they help astronomers fit Aldebaran into the scheme of things — finding its place among the stars.


Script by Damond Benningfield

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

StarDateBy Billy Henry

  • 4.6
  • 4.6
  • 4.6
  • 4.6
  • 4.6

4.6

251 ratings


More shows like StarDate

View all
Science Friday by Science Friday and WNYC Studios

Science Friday

6,133 Listeners

BirdNote Daily by BirdNote

BirdNote Daily

1,190 Listeners

Planetary Radio: Space Exploration, Astronomy and Science by The Planetary Society

Planetary Radio: Space Exploration, Astronomy and Science

1,345 Listeners

Radiolab by WNYC Studios

Radiolab

43,967 Listeners

Astronomy Cast by Fraser Cain and Dr. Pamela Gay

Astronomy Cast

2,866 Listeners

The 365 Days of Astronomy by 365DaysOfAstronomy.org

The 365 Days of Astronomy

336 Listeners

Universe Today Podcast by Fraser Cain

Universe Today Podcast

544 Listeners

Ask a Spaceman! by Paul M. Sutter

Ask a Spaceman!

804 Listeners

Space Nuts: Astronomy Insights & Cosmic Discoveries by Professor Fred Watson and Andrew Dunkley

Space Nuts: Astronomy Insights & Cosmic Discoveries

221 Listeners

SpaceTime: Your Guide to Space & Astronomy by Stuart Gary

SpaceTime: Your Guide to Space & Astronomy

320 Listeners

Short Wave by NPR

Short Wave

6,271 Listeners

The Supermassive Podcast by The Royal Astronomical Society

The Supermassive Podcast

287 Listeners

NASA's Curious Universe by National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

NASA's Curious Universe

851 Listeners

Why This Universe? by Dan Hooper, Shalma Wegsman

Why This Universe?

363 Listeners

Crash Course Pods: The Universe by Crash Course Pods, Complexly

Crash Course Pods: The Universe

505 Listeners