m Tauri

m Tauri is a fifth-magnitude yellow star in Taurus. It lies eastward of the Hyades cluster that forms the 'face' of Taurus, falling along the line of Taurus' southern 'horn' at a point very roughly halfway to Tianguan, the star that marks the horn's tip. m Tauri is some fifty-two light years from the Solar System, making it much closer than either the Hyades cluster or the star Tianguan.

This is a binary system, consisting of two yellow dwarf stars that are structurally rather similar to the Sun, if slightly larger and more luminous. The orbital period of the system is not known precisely, but is relatively rapid, with the stars estimated to complete an orbit in one or two years.

The chemical makeup shown in the spectrum of this system is unusual, and implies that the stars have interacted with some other object in the past, possibly either consuming a smaller star, or passing through a nebulous region. There is evidence that a circumstellar disc is to be found within the system, though the detailed structure of this disc, if indeed it exists, is not fully understood.