Encyclopedia

Aldebaran

Aldebaran (ăl"deb'urun) [key], brightest star in the constellation Taurus; Bayer designation α Tauri; 1992 position R.A. 4h35.5m, Dec. +16°30'. An orange giant star (spectral class K5 III) with apparent magnitude averaging 0.85, it is one of the 20 brightest stars in the sky. Aldebaran is a visual binary star and an irregular variable star, with magnitude ranging from 0.78 to 0.93. Its distance is 68 light-years. The name is from the Arabic meaning “follower (of the Pleiades).”

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2007, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

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