- Stars with a name
- Aldebaran
Aldebaran
α Tauri
Aldebaran is an orange giant, in the constellation Taurus. The light you see from it tonight left it around 1959.
Where to find it
From mid-northern latitudes, such as New York, Rome or Tokyo, it is best seen in the evening sky in January, February, November, and December.
Bright enough to see even from a city. Apparent magnitude 0.87.
What it’s like
It gives off 163 times as much light as the Sun.
Its surface temperature is about 3,500 degrees Celsius.
It is 66.6 light years away: 630 trillion kilometres.
It is the star of people born around 1959: the light that left it then is reaching Earth now.