Hyades

Pleiades and Hyades in Stellarium (date -300 but this view is independent of the historical epoch on human scales).

Hyades and Pleiades as observed in central Europe (photo and animation SMH)

The Hyades (Ὑας, Ὑαδες) are a significant pattern of stars in the sky that has been recognized as an asterism or constellation by almost all cultures. They form part of the modern constellation of Taurus.

Etymology and History

Name Variants:

• Suculae (Latin)
• Rainy Ones (hyô, hyetos)
• Regengestirn (German)

Origin of Constellation

Taurus sign with drawings of Pleiades (Bristle), Hyades (Chariot), Bull, and the Moon during a total lunar eclipse in the Moon's hypsoma; drawing by Hoffmann (2025).

The V-shaped Hyades appear more scattered in the sky; in Mesopotamia they were regarded as the ‘jaws of Taurus’ (is-lê) and are interpreted in Greek as its face. The bright star Aldebaran, which physically does not belong to the star cluster but is (coincidentally) seen standing in the foreground in the same direction in the sky, had no proper name - neither in Mesopotamia nor in mathematical Greek astronomy. Only in his astrological work Tetrabiblos does Ptolemy give a name for the star: the torch. The modern name, Aldebaran, is Arabic and alludes to its position in the sky. The Pleiades rise first, followed by Aldebaran and the Hyades. Ad-Dabaran means ‘the following one’.

References

• References (general)
• References (Babylonian)
• References (ancient Greco-Roman)
• References (medieval)