Golden Gate of the Ecliptic
Asterism in constellation Taurus
The Golden Gate of the Ecliptic is an asterism in the constellation Taurus that has been known for several thousand years. The asterism is formed of the two eye-catching open star clusters, the Pleiades and the Hyades that form the posts of a virtual gate on either side of the ecliptic line.
Since all planets as well as the Moon and the Sun always move very closely along the virtual circle of the ecliptic, all these seven orbiting bodies regularly pass through the Golden Gate of the Ecliptic. Since the Moon is the closest of these heavenly bodies to the Earth and it is inclined at a high enough angle to the ecliptic, on some occasions, the Moon can cover the stars of the open star clusters or even pass outside the Gate.
History
From 4000 to 1500 BC the equinox was within the constellation Taurus, and therefore great importance was attached to this constellation. The 4500 year old sky tablet of the Neolithic Tal-Qadi Temple in Malta is thought to display the Golden Gate of the Ecliptic.
Sources
Rappenglück, Michael A. (2001). Barbieri, C.; Rampazzi, F. (eds.). Palaeolithic Timekeepers Looking at the Golden Gate of the Ecliptic; The Lunar Cycle and the Pleiades in the Cave of La-Tête-du-lion (Ardèche, France) — 21,000 BP. Earth-Moon Relationships. Dordrecht: Springer.
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The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as asterism in constellation Taurus. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 22, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q673673. The first chronological checks are 1500 and 2001.
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This entry incorporates text from “Golden Gate of the Ecliptic” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.