If you are sailing through Taurus with your telescope, be sure to stop by the blue-white star of 118 Tauri. With enough magnification, you’ll be able to see this is actually a double star, and it appears like a little animal with beady eyes is looking back at you.
My Observations
| Date | December 28, 2020 |
| Time | 8:10 p.m. |
| Location | Seattle, WA |
| Magnification | 254x |
| Scope | Meade 8″ SCT |
| Eyepiece | 8mm |
| Seeing | Average |
| Transparency | Average |
Even with the moon washing out the sky tonight, I’m able to pull out this beautiful double star. The stars are small and colorful (white/blue and yellow). This double doesn’t “compete” against a background of stars. Instead, 118 Tauri sits in a sea of black, and it somewhat appears like a tiny animal with beady eyes staring back at me.
Also observed on January 9, 2022, at 8:15 p.m.
Key Stats
| Constellation | Taurus |
| Best Viewing | Winter |
| Visual Magnitude | +5.8, +6.7 |
| Absolute Visual Magnitude | -.54 |
| Distance from Earth | 430 ly |
| Separation | 4.7″ | 613 AU |
| Milky Way Location | Orion Spur |
| My Viewing Grade | B |
Sources and Notes
Photo of Taurus by IndividusObservantis and licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.
Sketch by Wayne McGraw
The Garden Astronomer 