Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Taurus (Tau)  ·  Contains:  IC 353  ·  Maia nebula  ·  Merope nebula  ·  NGC 1432  ·  NGC 1435  ·  The star 18Tau  ·  The star Atlas (27Tau)  ·  The star Celaeno (16Tau)  ·  The star Electra (17Tau)  ·  The star Merope (23Tau)  ·  The star Pleione (28Tau)  ·  The star Sterope I (21Tau)  ·  The star Taygeta (19Tau)  ·  The star ηTau
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The Pleiades, Messier 45, rflinn68
The Pleiades, Messier 45
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The Pleiades, Messier 45

Getting plate-solving status, please wait...
The Pleiades, Messier 45, rflinn68
The Pleiades, Messier 45
Powered byPixInsight

The Pleiades, Messier 45

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Description

In astronomy, the Pleiades (/ˈplaɪ.ədiːz/ or /ˈpliː.ədiːz/), or Seven Sisters (Messier 45 or M45), is an open star cluster containing middle-aged hot B-type stars located in the constellation of Taurus. It is among the nearest star clusters to Earth and is the cluster most obvious to the naked eye in the night sky. The celestial entity has several meanings in different cultures and traditions.

The cluster is dominated by hot blue and extremely luminous stars that have formed within the last 100 million years. Dust that forms a faint reflection nebulosity around the brightest stars was thought at first to be left over from the formation of the cluster (hence the alternative name Maia Nebula after the star Maia), but is now known to be an unrelated dust cloud in the interstellar medium, through which the stars are currently passing. Computer simulations have shown that the Pleiades was probably formed from a compact configuration that resembled the Orion Nebula. Astronomers estimate that the cluster will survive for about another 250 million years, after which it will disperse due to gravitational interactions with its galactic neighborhood. -- Wiki

This is a 2 panel mosaic cut from my 9 panel. I still need a few more panels to get that one finished, and wanted to work on this area, which contains my favorite open cluster of stars.

Each panel is 18X600 Luminance and 10X300 RGB.

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  • The Pleiades, Messier 45, rflinn68
    Original
  • The Pleiades, Messier 45, rflinn68
    B
  • Final
    The Pleiades, Messier 45, rflinn68
    C

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The Pleiades, Messier 45, rflinn68