h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: Star Constellations: Taurus the Bull - A532207
Author: Galaxy Babe - International Peace Day - U128652

You might like to mention that the Pleiades are traditionally known as the Seven Sisters, even though only six of them are visible to the naked eye.

Wasn't the first pulsar ever discovered in the M1? Check this. Jocelyn Bell discovered it, as far as I can remember.

You say that M1 is 6,500 light years distant and that the explosion took place in 1054 AD. This might need some further explanation. The explosion took place 6,500 years before that, but it took the light until 1054 to reach us.

The table GuideML is a bit odd. What's this line for?



It seems to just make the border on the table not fit properly.

All those COLSPANs are not needed since they are set to 1. They only serve to slow down the loading of the page.

You should describe the constellation and mention in particular the V of stars which are taken as the bull's head and horns.

I don't think Europa was anything to do with the Minotaur ...

Yes, I thought so. Pasipha, wife of Minos, fell madly in love with a white 'bull of the sea' which was a gift of Poseidon, so she got Daedalus the inventor to make a wooden model of a bull. She climbed into it and had sex with the bull - the result was the Minotaur.

Use a small 't' for 'the' in 'the Bible' and 'the Pleiades' (except when at the start of a sentence, of course).

Princess Elizabeth of York, aka HM The Queen - 21 April, 1926. -- it doesn't make sense to call the queen this, since it is not her name or title. She may have been a princess when she was born, but even then I'm not sure if she was the princess of York. Give her present name and title.

The easiest way to find Taurus is to follow the curve of the handle of the Plough downwards, which points to Aldebaran. This could then be linked to the Ursa Major entry.

It might be nice to put the astronomical information of when the sun is in the sign of Taurus, as well as the incorrect astrological dates.

No, I'm wrong about following the handle of the Plough down to Aldebaran. Disregard that.

The easiest way to find Taurus is from the constellation of Orion, which is unmissable. Taurus is just to the north-east of Orion's head.

So is it incorrect to say <>?

Oh, I didn't notice that. I'll go and check...

Situated just to the eastTo the right if you are in the Northern Hemisphere. of Orion the Hunter, Orion's 'belt' is roughly lined up with the 'eye of the bull' - the giant reddish orange star Aldebaran (Alpha Tauri).

In fact the line from Orion's Belt is so far away from the eye of the bull that it goes "under the bull's chin", but "roughly" should cover it.

I've removed all those "colspans" I really am not good at tables, I copied it from another Entry and just replaced my info
I thought I'd done well in adding another column

According to A882218 The Discovery of Pulsars, the Crab pulsar was the third discovered and not by Dame Jocelyn Bell, but I've mentioned the Crab pulsar and also linked to that Entry.

It has a few mistakes in it so I'll post them at EF

I just printed this out for a careful read over lunch.

backsun

In the star Designation column do the Greek written letters have to be in italics?

I've expanded the "legend" section.

The Greek letters do not need to be in italics.

Excellent

At first reading, these occur to me:

>>Ancient Greek poet and scholar Homer spoke of the Hyades to his students in 750 BC.<<
Yes, but what did he say? Or do you mean that this is the earliest known mention?

>>The rising of the Pleiades was considered a sign of good sailing weather by ancient mariners.<<

I found myself pondering this one, and I think you could add a bit of information. That is, apparently the rising isn't a sign of good sailing weather for the day or the next few days, rather it's the sign that the season for sailing had begun. (as far as I can tell)

This from the Weather Doctor Weather Almanac

http://www.islandnet.com/~see/weather/almanac/arc2002/alm02dec2.htm

excerpt:
'Since the Mediterranean navigational year began with the rising of the Pleiades in May and ended when they set, there arose a belief in a goddess who protected sailors from storms.'

(So, how apropos is that, that they rise in May? Bully for them )



I'm (only slightly) reluctant to try and add names to the birthday list since, by my reckoning, approximately 1/12th of all famous people would have been born in May - However, Mel Blanc (30 May, 1908) and Andre the Giant (19 May, 1946) are perhaps notable.

You say "in 2007 the Sun entered Taurus on 20 April and left it on 21 May". But this is fictional information invented by the astrologers to make the sun fit their charts. The astrologers' charts have been out of date for about 2,000 years now. The sun was nowhere near Taurus on 20 April. I don't have the exact dates to hand, but it entered Taurus on about 16 May, and left it some time around 20 June 2007. I'll try and get the exact dates if you're interested.

Post 16 - I recall being given similar info in 2001 when I was first attempting this Entry. However, I've quoted what you say and am happy to leave it at that. I'm not interested in today's astrological forecasts at all

<>
Thank you Gnomon - do you mean just in the table, or in the text as a whole?



Post 15 - they're not famous people born in May, they're famous Taureans (as we know Taurus anyway). By my reckoning Mel Blanc is a Gemini.

I have added your suggestion of Andre the Giant but I can't find an EGE on him, do you have any suggestions for a link?

season for sailing

earliest known mention

Andre the Giant star of A1156817 The Princess Bride? he's not mentioned in A1909

Oops yes, Taureans only, as you say.

Princess Bride is exactly the link I would have used.