Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Taurus (Tau)  ·  Contains:  Barnard's Merope Nebula  ·  IC 349  ·  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
The Pleiades (M45)  2013, Kirk
The Pleiades (M45)  2013
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The Pleiades (M45) 2013

The Pleiades (M45)  2013, Kirk
The Pleiades (M45)  2013
Powered byPixInsight

The Pleiades (M45) 2013

Equipment

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Acquisition details

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Description

Pleiades(M45 or NGC1432) - In astronomy, the Pleiades, or Seven Sisters (Messier object 45), 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.

I took this photo in Chester, Nova Scotia with the help of a friend who lives there. Thanks for the dark skies and the use of your wonderful telescope Terry!

Note bright star diffraction spikes caused by microlensing on ST8300M were enhanced. This is art, not science!

Acquisition Date: September 7th and 9th 2013 Chester, Nova Scotia

Telescope: TAK FSQ106ED at f/5

Mount: Losmandy G11 w/ Gemini II

Camera: SBIG ST8300M (-20°C)

Filters:

Astrodon Gen II E Filters

Luminance 10 x 300sec (50 min)

Red: 7 x 300sec (35 min)

Green: 5 x 300sec (25 min)

Blue: 7 x 300sec (35 min)

Total: 145 min ( 2.42 hours)

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The Pleiades (M45)  2013, Kirk