Credit & Copyright: Royal Observatory, Edinburgh,
Anglo-Australian
Observatory
Explanation:
It is 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 most
easily visible
open clusters on the sky.
The Pleiades
contains over 3000 stars, is about 400 light years away, and only 13 light
years across. Quite evident in the above photograph is the blue
reflection nebula that surrounds the
bright cluster stars. Low mass, faint,
brown dwarfs have
recently been found in the Pleiades.
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: star cluster - pleiades
Publications with words: star cluster - pleiades
See also:
- APOD: 2024 December 9 Á Pleiades: The Seven Sisters Star Cluster
- APOD: 2024 September 29 Á Seven Dusty Sisters
- Young Star Cluster NGC 1333
- APOD: 2024 September 3 Á Quarter Moon and Sister Stars
- APOD: 2024 January 29 Á The Pleiades: Seven Dusty Sisters
- APOD: 2024 January 15 Á Star Cluster IC 348 from Webb
- APOD: 2023 December 10 Á Big Dipper over Pyramid Mountain