M45: The Pleiades, Caleb

M45: The Pleiades

M45: The Pleiades, Caleb

M45: The Pleiades

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Description

This image is my first image I took of the Pleiades with my Nikon DSLR and a star tracker.

The Pleiades is a deep space open star cluster located approximately 444 light years away from Earth. The earliest depiction of the Pleiades was found on a Bronze Age Nebra Sky Disk, around 1600 BC. The Bible mentions the Pleiades three times (Job 9:9, Amos 5:8, Job 38:31). Some of the most conservative Christian scholars would argue Job was written as early as 3000 BC, and if that is the case, then this may be the earliest record of Pleiades. Many other cultures including the Chinese, Hawaiians, the Cherokee, etc. have also depicted the Pleiades. Much later, Charles Messier added the Pleiades to the Messier catalogue, which includes many faint deep space objects which bothered him as he hunted for comets. The Pleiades is an open star cluster dominated by young, hot blue stars. In addition the blue clouds seen in this photograph show the Pleiades is a reflection nebula, with the dust reflecting the light of the hot blue stars.

"He who made the Pleiades and Orion
And changes deep darkness into morning,
Who also darkens day into night,
Who calls for the waters of the sea
And pours them out on the surface of the earth,
The LORD is His name." 
--Amos 5:8


Clear skies!
- Caleb

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M45: The Pleiades, Caleb