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| Taurus-Auriga | |
|---|---|
| Name | Taurus-Auriga |
| Abbreviation | TAU-AUR |
| Genitive | Tau-Aurorum |
| Family | Perseus |
| Quadrant | NQ1 |
| Area total sq deg | 1000 |
| Lat max | 90 |
| Lat min | -90 |
| Best month | November |
Taurus-Auriga Taurus-Auriga designates a contiguous region of the sky encompassing parts associated with the Taurus complex and the Auriga complex; it is studied as a coherent astronomical and astrophysical field by observatories such as European Southern Observatory, Keck Observatory, Subaru Telescope, Hubble Space Telescope and missions including Spitzer Space Telescope, WISE, Gaia and Chandra X-ray Observatory. Major research institutions like Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Harvard–Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Space Telescope Science Institute and universities such as California Institute of Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Princeton University and University of Cambridge have mapped its stars, clouds and young stellar objects using surveys from projects including Sloan Digital Sky Survey, Two Micron All Sky Survey, Pan-STARRS and the Herschel Space Observatory.
The Taurus-Auriga region contains overlapping star-forming complexes associated with the Taurus Molecular Cloud and the Auriga OB1 Association and includes rich populations studied by teams from Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Institute for Astronomy (University of Hawaii), National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the European Space Agency. Observational campaigns by collaborations such as the ALMA consortium, the Very Large Array, the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope and the Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique have characterized protostars, pre-main-sequence stars and debris disks that are compared with populations in regions like Orion Nebula Cluster, Perseus molecular cloud, Ophiuchus cloud complex, Chamaeleon I and Lupus. Studies link to theoretical frameworks developed at Institute for Advanced Study, Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics and groups led by researchers affiliated with University of California, Berkeley, University of Arizona and University of Oxford.
The Taurus-Auriga sky region lies across right ascension ranges mapped by catalogs from Henry Draper Catalogue, Hipparcos Catalogue and Bright Star Catalogue and overlaps constellations catalogued by Claudius Ptolemy and standardized by the International Astronomical Union. Boundaries draw on work by John Flamsteed, Johann Bayer, Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille and modern coordinate systems from International Celestial Reference Frame. Neighboring constellations and regions include Perseus, Orion, Canis Major, Gemini and Cetus, with mapping refined by missions such as Gaia and surveys like 2MASS.
Prominent members within the region in catalogs include stars listed in the Bright Star Catalogue, the Gliese Catalogue of Nearby Stars, and entries cross-referenced in SIMBAD. Notable objects studied include the T Tauri stars, specific members catalogued by Mount Wilson Observatory and observed in X‑rays by ROSAT, Chandra X-ray Observatory and XMM-Newton. Young objects and disks have been imaged by Hubble Space Telescope programs and by ALMA; debris disks analogous to those around stars in Beta Pictoris or TW Hydrae have been compared. Surveys have identified brown dwarfs cataloged in lists maintained by European Southern Observatory and groups led at University of Hawaii and Leiden Observatory.
The region hosts active molecular complexes including the Taurus Molecular Cloud and filaments observed by Herschel Space Observatory and mapped in CO by James Clerk Maxwell Telescope and IRAM. Star-formation studies reference theoretical models from Frank Shu and simulations from groups at Princeton University and Harvard–Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, comparing initial mass functions to those measured in Orion Nebula, Perseus and Serpens. Protostellar evolution phases (Class 0/I/II/III) have been characterized by teams at Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, University of Tokyo and University of Michigan with infrared data from Spitzer Space Telescope and millimeter data from ALMA and SMA.
Culturally the Taurus and Auriga adjoining sky areas relate to mythic figures catalogued by classical authors such as Homer, Hesiod, Ptolemy and later mythographers like Hyginus. Iconography appears in works associated with Renaissance art patrons and astronomers such as Galileo Galilei and Johannes Hevelius who produced early star atlases; modern cultural references include appearances in literature by J. R. R. Tolkien and popular media franchises produced by companies like BBC and NASA educational outreach programs. Naming conventions for objects draw on histories curated by institutions including the Royal Astronomical Society and the International Astronomical Union.
Visibility is described in star charts by U.S. Naval Observatory, the Royal Greenwich Observatory archives and modern planetarium software from Stellarium and Celestia. The region is best observed in northern autumn months by observers at observatories such as Mauna Kea Observatories, La Silla Observatory and amateur networks coordinated by American Association of Variable Star Observers. Photometric and spectroscopic monitoring campaigns have been conducted through facilities like Keck Observatory, Very Large Telescope and amateur collaborations using instruments from Celestron and Meade Instruments.
Historical surveys and catalogues include work by John Flamsteed, Edmond Halley, William Herschel, Heinrich Olbers, and compilation efforts codified in the Henry Draper Catalogue, Bonner Durchmusterung and later the Hipparcos Catalogue and Gaia DR2. Modern cataloguing and follow-up have been led by teams at Space Telescope Science Institute, European Southern Observatory, National Radio Astronomy Observatory and survey projects such as Sloan Digital Sky Survey and 2MASS, with results published in journals like The Astrophysical Journal, Astronomy & Astrophysics, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society and archived through NASA/IPAC services.
Category:Star-forming regions