The mythical king of Atlas had seven daughters — Alpine, Taigeta, Merop, Celena, Elettra, Asterop and Maya. Under rather unclear circumstances (several contradictory versions have come to our attention), these sisters were turned into a group of small, poorly luminous stars that have been adorning the constellation of Taurus since time immemorial. In any case, the Pleiades (so-called this cluster of stars) are mentioned in the Bible, they are written about by Homer and Hesiod. They say that once all seven Pleiades were equally bright. But then, when Meropa had carelessness to marry a mortal, her “star” faded.
In Egypt, the cult of the sacred bull (calf) Apisa flourished for thousands of years. He embodied the power, the power of reproduction. Therefore, the image of Apis is a symbol of creative power.
In the ancient peoples, the most important was the constellation of Taurus, as the new year began in spring. In the zodiac, Taurus is the oldest constellation, because in the life of ancient peoples cattle breeding played a huge role, and with the bull (calf) associated the constellation, where the Sun as if defeated winter and heralded the arrival of spring and summer. In general, many ancient peoples revered this animal considered it sacred.
In Ancient Egypt, there was a sacred bull Apis, which was worshipped during his life and whose mummy was solemnly buried in a magnificent tomb. Every 25 years Apisa was replaced by a new one. In Greece, the bull too enjoyed the big honor. In Crete, the bull's name was Minotaur.
Heroes of Hellas Heracles, Theseus, and Yason tamed the bulls. The brightest star of Taurus is called Aldebaran.
Which stars consist of
The brightest of the galaxies of Alcium (h Taurus). Its luminosity is a thousand times greater than the luminosity of the sun. Next to it there is a triangle of small stars, optical “satellites” of Alton. The main stars of the Pleiad are those with their own mythical names — hot white giants with a surface temperature of at least 15000°. Our Sun, placed among them, would look like a weak star of the tenth magnitude. But among the dozens of stars that make up this cluster of stars, there are stars that are less hot than, say, Alton, and those that are very similar in their physical characteristics to the Sun. However, not all types of stars are common (for example, no red giants). Pleiades are one of the closest scattered star clusters to us (distance 130 ps). Therefore, it is so effective even for the naked eye.
Occupying in the sky the area in some times the big full Moon, Pleiades in space have stretched in all directions approximately on 22 light-years. The Pleiad stars fly in space along almost parallel paths and at almost the same speed. Pleiades are much more compact than any of O-associations. But also they are rather young. Attempts to determine their age have been made repeatedly. By the estimations published in 1953, 280 stars which are a part of Pleiad, have hardly arisen earlier, than 2,5 million years ago. If so, the age of the Pleiad of the same order as the age of mankind!
As early as 1859, a light transparent nebula was discovered, a kind of veil in which the Pleiades were immersed. It reflects the light of the Pleiades immersed in it and consists mainly of the tiniest solid cosmic dust.
The main star of the constellation of Taurus, yellowish-orange Aldebaran is located in the sky (but not in space!) in the thickest part of another scattered star cluster — the Guild. By this name, we mean a group of about two hundred stars surrounding Aldebaran. The velocities of their own movements are directed to one point in the sky (the so-called vertex), close to Betelgeuse. In the hyadas, the stars' own movements are quite significant and it is easy to find the vertex, which, for example, for Pleiad is defined rather uncertainly. Therefore, one can say that such “in front of the eyes” moving clusters are called moving clusters.
The composition of the hyadas is probably no less diverse than the Pleiad. But in general, the hyadas are colder and “smaller” than the Pleiades. There are also many stars like the sun and even a few red giants. Guides are not enveloped in nebulae like the Pleiades, and this circumstance can also be considered as a sign of the old age of the accumulation. Judging by many data, age of Guiad is close to a billion years.
Guides are the closest to us star clusters. It is only 40 ps. The form of this cluster is almost spherical, the average cross-section is close to 33 light-years. It is estimated that about 80 thousand years ago, the Guides flew past the Sun at its shortest distance and were twice as close as they are now.
In 65 million years the Guides, having left us, will occupy the area much less than the full Moon in the sky, and their brightest stars, nowadays perfectly visible to the naked eye, will become weak stars “12”. As you can see, the celestial pictures are also changeable, however, like everyone else in the world.