Aldebaran (α Tau, α Tauri,
Alpha Tauri) is the brightest star in the constellation
Taurus and
one of the brightest stars in the nighttime sky. The name Aldebaran is derived from Arabic signifying "the follower", as it appears to follow the
Pleiades, or
Seven Sisters in the sky. Because of its location in the head of Taurus, it has historically been called the
Bull's Eye. Aldebaran has the appearance of being the brightest member of the more scattered
Hyades cluster, which is the closest star cluster to Earth. However, it is merely located in the line of sight between the Earth and the Hyades, and is actually an independent star. NASA's
Pioneer 10 spacecraft, which flew by Jupiter in 1973, is currently travelling in the direction and will reach it in about two million years..
In 1997, a possible
substellar companion was reported, with a mass at least 11 times that of
Jupiter with an orbital period of around 2 years; however, this has not been confirmed.
Physical properties
thumb|left|200px|Size comparison between Aldebaran and the SunAldebaran is a K5III star, which means it is orangish, large, and has moved off the
main sequence after exhausting the
hydrogen fuel in its core. It has a minor companion (a dim M2 dwarf orbiting at several hundred
AU). Now primarily fusing
helium, the main star has expanded to a diameter of 44.2 times the diameter of the
Sun,
approximately 61 million
kilometres (see
10 gigametres for similar sizes). The
Hipparcos satellite has measured it as away, and it shines with 150 times the Sun's luminosity. With an
apparent magnitude of 0.87, it is the
13th brightest star. It is slightly variable, of the
irregular variable type, by about 0.2 magnitude.
Visibility
Aldebaran is one of the easiest stars to find in the
night sky, partly due to its brightness and partly due to its spatial relation to one of the more noticeable
asterisms in the sky. If one follows the three stars of
Orion's belt from left to right (in the Northern Hemisphere) or right to left (in the Southern), the first bright star found by continuing that line is Aldebaran.
This star is close enough to the
ecliptic to be occulted by the
moon. Such occultations occur when the moon's
ascending node is near the
autumnal equinox, as will be the case around 2015.
Possible planetary system
In 1993, radial velocity measurements of Aldebaran A,
Arcturus and
Pollux showed that Aldebaran A exhibited a long-period radial velocity oscillation, which could be interpreted as a substellar companion with a minimum mass 11.4 times that of
Jupiter in a 643-day orbit at a separation of in a mildly
eccentric orbit. However, all three stars surveyed showed similar oscillations yielding similar companion masses, and the authors concluded that the variation was likely to be intrinsic to the star rather than due to the gravitational effect of a companion. On the other hand, it should be noted that the companion to the star
Pollux postulated in the 1993 paper has since been confirmed (see
Pollux b).
Further analysis of the spectrum of Aldebaran A did not show any variation correlated to the 643-day radial velocity oscillation, which would be expected if the cause was intrinsic. The best orbital solution was found to be around 653.8 days with an eccentricity of 0.182, and a lower mass limit of 11 Jupiter masses. The high value for the minimum mass means that it is likely that the object, if it exists, exceeds 13 Jupiter masses and is therefore a
brown dwarf. However it is possible that the oscillation is due to a combination of pulsations, and , this companion has not been confirmed.
Etymology and cultural significance
Ancient cultures
The name Aldebaran comes from the
Arabic (
) meaning "the follower" and refers to the way the star follows the
Pleiades star cluster in its nightly journey across the sky. In
Persia it was known as
Sadvis and Kugard. The
Romans called it
, and it is known as (
, the Fifth Star of the Net) in Chinese. Aldebaran is identified as the
lunar mansion Rohini in Hindu astronomy and as one of the twenty-seven daughters of
Daksha and the wife of the god
Chandra.
Gnostic Neo-Nazis
An
esoteric neo-Nazi sect headquartered in
Vienna, Austria called the
Tempelhofgesellschaft, founded in the early 1990s, teaches a form of
Gnosticism called
Marcionism. They distribute pamphlets claiming that the
Aryan race originally came to
Atlantis from the star Aldebaran (this information is supposedly based on "ancient
Sumerian manuscripts"). They maintain that the Aryans from Aldebaran derive their power from the
vril energy of the
Black Sun. They teach that since the Aryan race is of
extraterrestrial origin it has a divine mission to dominate all the other races. It is believed by adherents of this religion that an enormous space fleet is on its way to Earth from Aldebaran which, when it arrives, will join forces with the
Nazi Flying Saucers from Antarctica to establish the
Western Imperium.
Inuit culture
In
Inuit astronomy, Aldebaran is called "Spirit of a
Polar Bear".
Italian witchcraft
In the religion of
Stregheria, Aldebaran is a
fallen angel and quarter guardian of the eastern gate.
Literature
Aldebaran is referred to in
Edmund Spenser's
The Faerie Queene (1590), book one, canto three, stanza 16:
Now when Aldeboran was mounted hye
In American horror writer H. P. Lovecraft's
Cthulhu Mythos,
Hastur resides in the Hyades cluster, and is signified by Aldebaran being above the horizon. When Aldebaran is visible, Hastur's eye is said to be upon all it oversees.
Mexican culture
For the
Seris of northwestern Mexico, this star is providing light for the seven women giving birth (
Pleiades). It has three different names:
,
, and
("star that goes ahead"). The lunar month corresponding to October is called
"Aldebaran's path".
Native American culture
For the Dakotas (a branch of the
Native American Sioux tribe), Aldebaran took on a heroic aspect. The young star was the child of the sun and the lady Blue Star. One day, he desired to hunt the
white buffalo (the
Pleiades). After he pulled up a sapling to make a spear, a hole was made in the ground and he could see all the people of Earth down below. The white buffalo took this chance to push him through. He was found by an old woman and was to be known as Old Woman's Grandson. On Earth, he killed many strange monsters that had been troubling the Native Americans; one monster of which was a serpent that caused drought. The young hero killed the serpent, releasing a great stream of water that became the
Mississippi River. In time, Old Woman's Grandson remembered the white buffalo and returned to hunting him in the sky to fulfill his destiny.
Music
Reference to Aldebaran appears in the The Rolling Stones song "2000 light years from home" from the 1967 psychedelic rock album Their Satanic Majesties Request.
The Welsh-born
Dark Ambient musician Brian Williams (
Lustmord) has a track entitled
Aldebaran of the Hyades on his 1994 album
The Place where the Black Stars Hang.
Enya included a song named Alderbaran on her first album,
Enya (later re-released as The Celts).
Austrian musician
B. Fleischmann includes a song called "Aldebaran Waltz" in his 2006 album,
The Humbucking Coil.
Aldebaran is also the title of a song by Essra Mohawk, and is included on her album "Revelations Of The Secret Diva".
Games
In the , one of the imaginary world's cities have the name Al de Baran. The players usually refer to the city as Aldebaran, or simplier "Alde".
Films and series
In the Star Trek television series, a whole system named got a role. Aldebaran III - Third planet in the Aldebaran star system. Longtime Federation member planet on which Janet and Theodore Wallace performed experiments using carbohydrate compounds to slow the aging of plants. It is location of the Aldebaran Music School. Grand Nagus Zek's nephew Belongo was once detained on Aldebaran III by Starfleet. Dr. Ira Graves, who cheated death by uploading his consciousness into Lt. Cmdr. Data, wanted to flee to a location in the Aldebaran system, so he could live on with his love, Kareen Brianon. The Aldebaran system is the home of a particularly tight-mouthed creature called the Aldebaran Shellmouth. Scotty and Picard share a bottle of Aldebaran whiskey.
See also
