Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Taurus (Tau)  ·  Contains:  Barnard's Merope Nebula  ·  IC 349  ·  Maia Nebula  ·  Merope Nebula  ·  NGC 1432  ·  NGC 1435  ·  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
M45 (NGC1432) The Pleiades (2012), Kirk
M45 (NGC1432) The Pleiades (2012)
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M45 (NGC1432) The Pleiades (2012)

M45 (NGC1432) The Pleiades (2012), Kirk
M45 (NGC1432) The Pleiades (2012)
Powered byPixInsight

M45 (NGC1432) The Pleiades (2012)

Equipment

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Acquisition details

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Description

Object: M45 (NGC1432) The Pleiades

M45 (NGC1432) The Pleiades, Seven Sisters or Subaru in Japanese 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. Pleiades 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 alternate name Maia Nebula after the star Maia), but is now known to be an unrelated dust cloud in the interstellar medium that the stars are currently passing through. 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. The cluster is estimated to be between 390 and 460 light years from earth.

(Some information comes from Wikipedia)

Acquisition Date: 10/21/2012

Camera: SBIG ST8300M @ -12°C

Telescope: Orion 8-Inch f/3.9 Newtonian Astrograph

Mount: Losmandy G11 with Gemini II

Guidescope: 50mm finder/guider

Guide Camera: Orion SSAG

Filters:

-Luminance: 6 x 5 min. (30min.)

-Red: 6 x 5 min. (30min.)

-Green:6 x 5 min. (30min.)

-Blue:6 x 5 min. (30min.)

Total Exposure: 120min. (2.0hrs)

Limiting Magnitude: 5.1

Comments: LRGB used with IDAS LP2 48mm light pollution filter. Baader Planetarium RCC I Rowe Coma Corrector used.

Comments

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Sky plot

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M45 (NGC1432) The Pleiades (2012), Kirk