Editing Aldebaran (section)

==Observation==
[[File:Iades and Pleiades (32446251210).jpg|thumb|left|Aldebaran in the [[Hyades (star cluster)|Hyades]]]]
Aldebaran is one of the easiest stars to find in the [[night sky]], partly due to its brightness and partly due to being near one of the more noticeable [[asterism (astronomy)|asterisms]] in the sky. Following the three stars of [[Orion's Belt|Orion's belt]] in the direction opposite to [[Sirius]], the first bright star encountered is Aldebaran.<ref name=dickinson>{{cite book|author=Terence Dickinson|title=NightWatch: A Practical Guide to Viewing the Universe|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BaMBgoKPmjAC&pg=PA56|year=1998|publisher=Firefly Books|isbn=978-1-55209-302-3|pages=56–|access-date=2019-05-09|archive-date=2023-01-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230115024322/https://books.google.com/books?id=BaMBgoKPmjAC&pg=PA56|url-status=live}}</ref>
It is best seen at midnight between late November and early December.

The star is, by chance, in the line of sight between the Earth and the [[Hyades (star cluster)|Hyades]], so it has the appearance of being the brightest member of the [[open cluster]], but the cluster that forms the bull's-head-shaped asterism is more than twice as far away, at about 150 light years.<ref name=ridpath>{{cite book|author=Ian Ridpath|title=The Monthly Sky Guide|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UFQIutJ8GSsC&pg=PA55|date=28 May 2003|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-139-43719-6|pages=55–|access-date=9 May 2019|archive-date=15 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230115024322/https://books.google.com/books?id=UFQIutJ8GSsC&pg=PA55|url-status=live}}</ref>

Aldebaran is 5.47 degrees south of the [[ecliptic]] and so can be [[Occultation|occulted]] by the [[Moon]]. Such occultations occur when the Moon's [[ascending node]] is near the [[equinox (celestial coordinates)|autumnal equinox]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.space.com/30467-moon-hits-aldebaran-star-bulls-eye-tonight.html |title=The Moon Hits a Cosmic Bull's Eye Tonight: How to See It |website=Space.com |author=Joe Rao |date=2015-09-04 |access-date=2020-06-09 |archive-date=2020-06-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200609153432/https://www.space.com/30467-moon-hits-aldebaran-star-bulls-eye-tonight.html |url-status=live }}</ref> A series of 49 occultations occurred starting on 29 January 2015 and ending at 3 September 2018.<ref name=konnen/> Each event was visible from points in the [[Northern Hemisphere|northern hemisphere]] or close to the [[equator]]; people in e.g. Australia or [[South Africa]] can never observe an Aldebaran occultation since it is too far south of the ecliptic. A reasonably accurate estimate for the diameter of Aldebaran was obtained during the occultation of 22 September 1978.<ref name=white/> In the 2020s, Aldebaran is in [[Conjunction (astronomy and astrology)|conjunction in ecliptic longitude]] with the sun around May 30 of each year.<ref name="LASCO"/>

With a near-[[infrared]] [[J band (infrared)|J band]] [[Magnitude (astronomy)|magnitude]] of −2.1, only [[Betelgeuse]] (−2.9), [[R Doradus]] (−2.6), and [[Arcturus]] (−2.2) are brighter at that wavelength.<ref name=2mass/>