                        Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                               2024 January 26

                       Epsilon Tauri: Star with Planet
                     Image Credit & Copyright: Reg Pratt

   Explanation: Epsilon Tauri lies 146 light-years away. A K-type red
   giant star, epsilon Tau is cooler than the Sun, but with about 13 times
   the solar radius it has nearly 100 times the solar luminosity. A member
   of the Hyades open star cluster the giant star is known by the proper
   name Ain, and along with brighter giant star Aldebaran, forms the eyes
   of Taurus the Bull. Surrounded by dusty, dark clouds in Taurus, epsilon
   Tau is also known to have a planet. Discovered by radial velocity
   measurements in 2006, Epsilon Tauri b is a gas giant planet larger than
   Jupiter with an orbital period of 1.6 years. And though the exoplanet
   can't be seen directly, on a dark night its parent star epsilon Tauri
   is easily visible to the unaided eye.

                      Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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