Taygeta
A blue-white subgiant in the Pleiades cluster.
Taygeta, also known as 19 Tauri Aa, is part of a multiple-star system in the Pleiades cluster (M45) within Taurus. The system includes a binary pair (19 Tauri A) and a visual companion (19 Tauri B). Hipparcos data places Taygeta about 410 light-years from our Sun.
Quick Facts
- Apparent magnitude
- +4.30
- Spectral type
- B-type subgiant
- Distance
- approximately 410 light-years
- Flamsteed designation
- 19 Tauri
- Bayer designation
- q Tauri
Facts from the source article.
Nomenclature
19 Tauri is the system's Flamsteed designation, and it also bears the little-used Bayer designation q Tauri. The designations 19 Tauri A and B, and A's components Aa and Ab, derive from the Washington Multiplicity Catalog convention adopted by the IAU. The traditional name Taygeta, after one of the Pleiades sisters in Greek mythology, was approved by the IAU Working Group on Star Names for component 19 Tauri Aa on 21 August 2016.
Properties
Taygeta shines at magnitude +4.30 and is a blue-white B-type subgiant, serving as a benchmark for that spectral class. It is a spectroscopic binary; its two stars have magnitudes of +4.6 and +6.1 and orbit each other every 1,313 days. The primary subgiant is one of the few stars in the young Pleiades cluster to have left the main sequence. A visual companion, 19 Tauri B, lies 69 arcseconds away at magnitude 8. This star is likely a yellow star, larger and more massive than the Sun, and located beyond the Pleiades. Though once thought to vary in brightness, Taygeta is now known to be nearly constant.
In UFO and extraterrestrial-contact literature
The name Taygeta appears in modern UFO and extraterrestrial-contact literature associated with claimed beings called Taygetans or Taygetan Pleiadians. In Swaruu-related material, these beings are described as tall and human-like, with reported variation in hair and eye colour, including blue or green eyes and dark, blond, or reddish-blond hair. Female Taygetans are portrayed as tall, human-looking women, with artistic interpretations sometimes emphasizing long dark hair and striking blue eyes. These descriptions belong to modern contact narratives and are distinct from the astronomical star.
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