12/08/2020 – Ephemeris – Finding Taurus the bull

This is Ephemeris for Tuesday, December 8th. Today the Sun will be up for 8 hours and 54 minutes, setting at 5:02, and it will rise tomorrow at 8:08. The Moon, 1 day past last quarter, will rise at 1:39 tomorrow morning.

Orion is the big splashy constellation in the east southeast by 9 in the evening. Above it is another famous constellation Taurus the bull. Its face is a letter V shape of stars on its side with the open end of the V to the left. The bright star at the lower left end of the sideways V is the ruddy star Aldebaran, the Bull’s angry bloodshot eye. The bull is charging down at Orion. The Pleiades, also known as the seven sisters, is the cluster of stars in his shoulder, above the V. The stars in the face of Taurus, except for Aldebaran belong to a star cluster like the Pleiades, but closer and older, called the Hyades. In Greek mythology the Hyades are half sisters to the Pleiades, all fathered by the god Atlas.

The event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.

Addendum

Three views of Taurus the bull and Orion the hunter for 9 p.m. on December 8th. Created using Stellarium and GIMP.

The Pleiades (right) and the Hyades (left) in this photograph I took January 4, 2016. The orientation is a bit different from how it appears in early December.