Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Taurus (Tau)  ·  Contains:  19 Tau)  ·  25 Tau)  ·  Barnard's Merope Nebula  ·  IC 1995  ·  IC 349  ·  Maia Nebula  ·  Merope Nebula  ·  NGC 1432  ·  NGC 1435  ·  Sterope I (21 Tau)  ·  The star 18 Tau  ·  The star Alcyone (η Tau  ·  The star Asterope  ·  The star Atlas (27 Tau)  ·  The star Celaeno (16 Tau)  ·  The star Electra (17 Tau)  ·  The star Merope (23 Tau)  ·  The star Pleione (28 Tau)  ·  The star Sterope II (22 Tau)  ·  The star Taygeta (q Tau
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The Pleiades - 10/16/09, AstroPoverty
The Pleiades - 10/16/09
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The Pleiades - 10/16/09

Getting plate-solving status, please wait...
The Pleiades - 10/16/09, AstroPoverty
The Pleiades - 10/16/09
Powered byPixInsight

The Pleiades - 10/16/09

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Description

This open star cluster is possibly the most famous in our history. It is clearly visible to the naked eye and every known civilization has mentioned it in the most ancient of texts. Lord Alfred Tennyson once wrote, "Many a night I saw the Pleiades, rising thro' the mellow shade, / Glitter like a swarm of fireflies tangled in a silver braid."

The stars you see in this photo are very young (less than 100 million years old). The blue nebulosity present around the cluster is actually unrelated. It is pure coincidence that this cluster is passing through a dust cloud. The blue mist is simply light from the dust reflected by nearby stars.

This cluster lies about 440 light years distant and its core is about 8 light years across. Most astronomers believe this cluster will disperse in about the next 250 million years.

The light you are looking at left this cluster during the time Michelangelo, Raphael and Bernini were painting the Sistine Chapel.

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The Pleiades - 10/16/09, AstroPoverty