Editing Beta Tauri (section)

== Physical properties ==
The [[absolute magnitude]] of Beta Tauri is −1.34, similar to another star in Taurus, [[Maia (star)|Maia]] in the [[Pleiades]] [[Open cluster|star cluster]]. Like Maia, β Tauri is a [[B-type giant|B-class]] [[Giant star|giant]] with a luminosity 700 times solar ({{solar luminosity}}).<ref name="kaler" /> It has evolved to become a giant star, larger and cooler than when it was on the [[main sequence]].<ref name=knyazeva/>
However, being approximately 130 [[light-year]]s distant compared to Maia's estimated 360 light-years, β Tauri ranks as the second-brightest star in the constellation.

It is a [[mercury-manganese star]], a type of non-magnetic chemically peculiar star with unusually large signatures of some heavy elements in its [[stellar spectrum|spectrum]].<ref name=hgmn/> Relative to the [[Sun]], β Tauri is notable for a high abundance of [[manganese]], but little [[calcium]] and [[magnesium]].<ref name="kaler" /><ref name="aj41" /> However, the lack of strong [[mercury (element)|mercury]] signatures, together with notably high levels of [[silicon]] and [[chromium]], have led some authors to give other classifications, including as a "SrCrEu star" or even an [[Ap star]].<ref name=chen/><ref name=bychkov/> Its [[limb darkening|limb-darkened]] angular diameter has been measured at {{val|1.085|0.026|ul=mas}}. At a distance of {{val|41.1|u=pc}}, this corresponds to a linear radius of {{val|4.79|0.13|u=solar radius}}.<ref name=Baines2025/> 

At the southern edge of the narrow plane of the [[Milky Way|Milky Way Galaxy]] a few degrees west of the [[galactic anticenter]], β Tauri figures (appears) as a foreground object south of many [[nebula]]e and [[star cluster]]s such as [[Messier 36|M36]], [[Messier 37|M37]], and [[Messier 38|M38]].<ref name="ApopPik"/> It is 5.39 degrees north of the [[ecliptic]], still few enough to be occultable by the [[Moon]]. Such occultations occur when the Moon's [[ascending node]] is near the [[Equinox (celestial coordinates)|March equinox]], as in 2007. Most are visible only in the [[Southern Hemisphere]], because the star is at the northern edge of the lunar occultation zone &ndash; but rarely as far north as southern [[California]].<ref name=abrams/>