Zeta Tauri

ζ Tauri (Latinised to Zeta Tauri) is the star's Bayer designation; it also bears the Flamsteed designation of 123 Tauri. The designations of the two components as Zeta Tauri A and B derive from the convention used by the Washington Multiplicity Catalog (WMC) for multiple star systems, and adopted by the International Astronomical Union (IAU). In Chinese astronomy, Zeta Tauri is called 天關, Pinyin: Tiānguān, formerly transliterated Tien Kwan, meaning Celestial [Frontier] Gate, an asterism within the Net (畢宿 Bì Xiù) mansion). 天關 (Tiānguān) has also been transliterated as Tien Kwan. (Technically, Tiānguān refers not just to Zeta Tauri but to the Celestial Gate asterism of which Zeta Tauri is the main star, alongside 113, 126, 128, 129, 130 and 127 Tauri .) In 2016, the IAU organized a Working Group on Star Names (WGSN) to catalog and standardize proper names for stars. The WGSN decided to attribute proper names to individual stars rather than entire multiple systems. It approved the name Tianguan for the component Zeta Tauri A on 30 June 2017 and it is now so included in the List of IAU-approved Star Names. ==Properties==

light curve for Zeta Tauri, adapted from Ruždjak et al. (2009) Zeta Tauri shows variation in its spectrum and brightness. The General Catalogue of Variable Stars lists it as an eclipsing variable and a Gamma Cassiopeiae variable, but it may not be either. Hrvoje Božić and Krešimer Pavlovski, of Hvar Observatory in Croatia, monitored the brightness of Zeta Tauri from 1981 to 1986 and noticed an eclipse like effect in the light curve. A latter study of all the available photometric data, including from the Hipparcos spacecraft, failed to confirm the presence of eclipses. ==See also==