Upsilon Tauri Star Facts (Type, Distance, Magnitude, Age, Colour, Location and more)

Upsilon Tauri is a main sequence star located in the constellation of Taurus, The Bull. It is not part of the Taurus constellation outline but is within the borders of the constellation.

Based on the spectral type (A8Vn), Upsilon Tauri colour is blue - white, although not the hottest stars, they are considerably hotter than our own star which is white.

Upsilon Tauri temperature is in the range of between 7,500 and 10,000 Kelvin. Upsilon Tauri effective temperature is 7,109 Kelvin which is hotter than the Sun's effective temperature, which is 5,777 Kelvin. Based on a parallax of 21.21, Upsilon Tauri distance from Earth can be calculated at being 153.78 light years away or 47.46 parsecs.

Upsilon Tauri is a naked-eye star, so you don't need a telescope or binoculars when you look up on a clear night. The lower the magnitude, the easier it will be to see it.

Location

The location of the Upsilon Tauri in the night sky is determined by the right ascension (R.A.) and declination (Dec.). These are equivalent to the Longitude and Latitude on Earth. The Right Ascension (Longitude) is expressed in time (hh:mm:ss) and is how far the star is along Earth's celestial equator. If the R.A. is positive, then it's eastwards and vice versa.

The Declination (Latitude) is how far north or south the object is compared to the celestial equator and is expressed in degrees. If the value is positive, it is north of the celestial equator. For Upsilon Tauri, the location is 04h 26m 18.39 and +22° 48` 49.3 .

Based on the location of Taurus, Upsilon Tauri can be located in the equatorial region of the celestial sky. The celestial hemisphere is equivalent to the hemispheres on Earth. Being in the equatorial region, Upsilon Tauri can be seen in both terrestrial hemispheres but there is a caveat of depending how far south and north you are. Upsilon Tauri is on the Ecliptic. The Ecliptic is the path that the Earth takes as it orbits the Sun. As the Earth is titled, we therefore have Celestial and Ecliptic hemispheres and they can be different for a star.

Physical Properties

Spectral Type

Upsilon Tauri spectral type of A8Vn which means its colour and type is blue - white main sequence star. There is no relationship between colour and size. For example, a red star can be large or small. Small stars are more energy efficient than larger stars and live longer.

Upsilon Tauri Luminosity

Luminosity is the amount of energy a star pumps out relative to the amount that our star, the Sun, gives out. Our star, the Sun's value is 1. Upsilon Tauri Luminosity figure of 32.403 comes from the Vizier online catalogue. The star generates more energy than our star.

Upsilon Tauri Size (Radius)

Upsilon Tauri radius has been calculated as being 3.75 times bigger than the Sun. The Sun's radius is 695,800km, therefore, the Upsilon Tauri radius is an estimated 2,609,250.km. If you need the star's diameter, you just need to multiply the radius by 2.

Magnitude (Apparent / Absolute / Visible)

A number represents a star’s magnitude, whether apparent/visual or absolute. The smaller the number, the brighter the star is. The Sun is the brightest star and therefore has the lowest of all magnitudes, -26.74. A faint star will have a high number.

Upsilon Tauri apparent magnitude is 4.28, which is a measure of the star's brightness as seen from Earth. Apparent Magnitude is also known as Visual Magnitude.

If you use the 1997 parallax value, Upsilon Tauri' absolute magnitude is 0.90. If you use the 2007 parallax value, Upsilon Tauri' absolute magnitude is 0.91. Absolute Magnitude is the star's apparent magnitude from 10 parsecs or 32.6 light years. The magnitude assumes nothing is between the object and the viewer, such as dust clouds. To compare different stars' actual brightness, you would best use Absolute rather than Apparent Magnitude.

Upsilon Tauri is visible from Earth without needing binoculars or a telescope. The lower the Apparent Magnitude of a star or other object is, the easier it is to see in the night sky. An object with a magnitude greater than 6.5 cannot be seen without a telescope or other device.