Aldebaran is one of the brightest objects in the night sky, a giant red star about 65 light-years away from our Solar System. Seen from Earth, it appears to be part of the Hyades, although it is in fact much closer. It was used by Robert W. Chambers in his work The King in Yellow.
August Derleth identifies it as the "place where the dark stars hang", the abode of Hastur (AWD: "The Return of Hastur").
Aldebaran appears in the short story "Polaris" by H. P. Lovecraft. The unnamed narrator observed Aldebaran from the city of Olathoë in the Arctic region of Lomar in the Dreamlands. The red star never set but crawled low around the horizon during the extended polar night.
Aldebaran is visible in the sky above Kingsport during the events of "The Festival" by H. P. Lovecraft, making the narrator shiver as the star seems to balance itself on the spire of the church. The Byakhee, which debuted in that story, are revealed to be servants of Hastur in Derleth's The Trail of Cthulhu.
Overview[]
Also known as the Eye of the Bull, Aldebaran lies in the constellation of Taurus and is said to be the star of the Great Old One Hastur, who inhabits the Lake of Hali on a planet circling a nearby dark star. The Celaeno Library might also be located here (although it should be noted that Celaeno is a different star).
Notes[]
Aldebaran as it appears in the Cthulhu Mythos may be connected with Marion Zimmer Bradley's Darkover novels, which also incorporate the Hastur myth.