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Астронет: Астрономическая картинка дня Звездное скопление Плеяды http://variable-stars.ru/db/msg/1195668/eng |
Credit & Copyright: Robert Gendler
Explanation:
Perhaps the most famous star cluster on the sky, the
Pleiades
can be seen without binoculars from even the depths of a
light-polluted city.
Also known as the Seven Sisters and
M45,
the Pleiades
is one of the brightest and closest
open clusters.
The Pleiades
contains over 3000 stars, is about 400 light years away,
and only 13 light years across.
Quite evident in the
above
photograph are the blue
reflection nebulae
that surround the brighter cluster
stars.
Low mass, faint, brown dwarfs have also
been found in
the
Pleiades.
(Editors' note: The prominent
diffraction spikes were added
to the image for aesthetic reasons, produced by kite string donated
by Rob Gendler's kids and placed over the telescope dew shield.)
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.