Unfortunately this time of year, or any time of year for that matter, there aren’t any constellations in the Butler heavens that have a real connection to the Christmas season.

It’s hard to make Orion the Hunter into Santa Claus. Pegasus the Winged Horse is hardly a candidate for an angel we have heard (or seen) on high, although Pegasus is still flying high in the southwest evening sky.

There is a very faint constellation called Monoceros the Unicorn, but that’s as close as I can come to a reindeer.

However, there is Taurus the Bull. The celestial bull doesn’t have a red nose, but he does have a red eye.

OK, this is a stretch, but just like Rudolph, Taurus the red-eyed bull is out just about all night long on Christmas Eve.

Taurus the Bull is a small but distinct constellation, and is a member of what I lovingly call “Orion and his Gang” hanging in the eastern skies.

The best way to find Taurus is to first locate the Pleiades, a very bright star cluster that jumps out at you in the eastern heavens. It almost looks like a tiny Little Dipper. In fact, I’ve run into many folks at my stargazing programs that think it is the Little Dipper.

The Pleiades is also known as the “Seven Little Sisters.”

It is astronomically a large cluster of hundreds of young stars in an area about 11 light years across and more than 400 light years away. Just one light-year is nearly six trillion miles.

Once you’ve spotted the Pleiades look a little below the cluster for a small, fairly dim, but distinct arrow pointing to the right. That little arrow supposedly outlines the snout of Taurus the Bull.

The arrow is also referred to as the Hyades, a loose, open cluster of stars.

There’s a moderately bright reddish star on the lower rung of the little arrow called Aldebaran that’s supposed to be the ruddy eye of the Bull.

You can extend the rungs of the arrow to the far left and reach a couple of stars that mark the tip of the bull’s horns.

One of the horn tip stars is Elnath, which is shared by both the constellation Taurus the Bull and the adjacent constellation Auriga the Charioteer.

While “It’s a Wonderful Life,” “Scrooge,” and “The Night Before Christmas” are classic Christmas tales, the Greek mythological tale of Taurus the Bull is definitely not. You certainly wouldn’t want to tell this tale of deceit to the little ones by the fireplace.

Zeus, the king of the gods and the resident playboy of Greek mythology, used all the tools he had to lure the ladies by hook or crook.

One of his love targets was Princess Europa, the daughter of a Phoenician king.

Zeus had met Europa at one of the local holiday parties and tried to get something going with her, but the fair princess was underwhelmed by his advances. He even coaxed her under some mistletoe and nothing happened!

So Zeus got a little more creative.

He knew that Princess Europa loved to raise prize bulls. She would spend hours and hours in the pasture with her animals.

Being the king of the gods, Zeus had all kinds of magical powers at his fingertips. In a puff of smoke he changed himself into Taurus, a gorgeous white bull with golden horns, and wandered into Europa’s pasture. The princess was delighted. The bull was beautiful and well mannered.

A few days later, Europa felt so at ease with Taurus that she decided to saddle him up and take a short ride. This was the opportunity Zeus was awaiting.

After a few gentle loops around the pasture, Taurus kicked into high gear and shot over the fence and across the countryside with Europa clinging to him for dear life.

While she was frightened, she was also excited by the high adventure.

Even when Taurus reached the sea that didn’t stop him.

He charged into the waves with Europa barely hanging on. He swam all the way to the island of Crete and finally stopped in his tracks.

Europa was wet, frightened, and sunburned as she rolled off the deceptive bull. It was then that Zeus, in another puff of smoke, revealed his true identity.

Somehow that did it. Europa fell head over heels for Zeus and they were quite a love item for a couple of years.

Zeus, though, was still a playboy at heart, and certainly not into long-term relationships. Zeus was about to dump Europa, but she beat him to the punch.

After a long trip away from home doing his dastardly deeds Zeus came home to find the locks on the doors of the house changed and all of his clothes scattered across the front yard.

Even though he wasn’t disguised as a bull anymore, Europa put Zeus out to pasture.

OK, everybody sing with me, “Taurus the deceptive bull, was a very sneaky god … and if you ever saw him ...”

Mike Lynch is an amateur astronomer and professional broadcast meteorologist for WCCO Radio in Minneapolis/St. Paul and is author of the book, “Stars, a Month by Month Tour of the Constellations” published by Adventure Publications and available at bookstores and at www.adventurepublications.net.