Aldebaran

Aldebaran is an orange giant star of spectral type K5III, the brightest star in the constellation Taurus at magnitude 0.85. It is located about 65 light-years from Earth and is roughly 44 times the diameter of the Sun and 425 times more luminous. Aldebaran appears to be part of the Hyades star cluster but is actually a foreground star, less than half the distance to the cluster. It is a slightly irregular variable star with small amplitude variations.

Aldebaran is easy to find by extending the line of Orion's Belt to the upper right. Its deep orange color is immediately apparent and makes a fine contrast with the blue Pleiades cluster about 12 degrees to its northwest. Through binoculars, the surrounding Hyades cluster provides a rich star field with Aldebaran as the jewel at its center. The Moon regularly occults Aldebaran (in certain years), offering dramatic disappearance and reappearance events visible through small telescopes. Best observed from November through March.

The name Aldebaran comes from the Arabic 'al-Dabaran' meaning 'the follower,' because it appears to follow the Pleiades across the sky. It was one of the four Royal Stars of ancient Persia (along with Regulus, Antares, and Fomalhaut), marking the vernal equinox around 3000 BC. Ptolemy listed it in the Almagest as one of the brightest stars in the sky.