Arabic star names / Aldebaran
Aldebaran
الدبران
Aldebaran comes from the Arabic الدبران (al-Dabarān), which means “the follower”. It is the 14th-brightest star in the sky, in Taurus.
- Brightness
- 0.87
- Colour
- orange
- Constellation
- Taurus
- Best seen
- January evenings
- Right ascension
- 4h 36m
- Declination
- +16° 31′
The name
It rises after the Pleiades (al-Thurayyā) and seems to chase them across the sky all night, which is how it got its name.
Where you can see it
It rises everywhere north of 73°S. From Riyadh it climbs to 82° above the horizon. From London it climbs to 55° above the horizon. From Sydney it climbs to 40° above the horizon.
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