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Credit & Copyright: Hermann von Eiff
Explanation:
Have you ever seen the Pleiades star cluster?
Even if you have, you probably have never seen it as dusty as this.
Perhaps the most famous star cluster on the sky, the bright stars of the
Pleiades
can be seen without binoculars even from the heart of a
light-polluted city.
With a long exposure from a dark location, though, the dust cloud surrounding the
Pleiades star
cluster becomes very evident.
The featured image was a long duration exposure taken last month
from Namibia and covers a
sky area many times the size of the full
moon.
Also known as the Seven Sisters and
M45,
the Pleiades lies about 400 light years away toward the constellation of the
Bull
(Taurus).
A common legend
with a
modern twist is that one of the brighter
stars faded since the cluster was named, leaving only six stars visible to the unaided
eye.
The actual number of visible
Pleiades stars, however,
may be more or less than seven, depending on the
darkness of the surrounding sky and the
clarity of the observer's eyesight.
Updates:
ESA's ExoMars arrives at Mars today
APOD Retrospective:
The Pleiades Star Cluster
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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: pleiades
Publications with words: pleiades
See also:
- APOD: 2024 December 9 Á Pleiades: The Seven Sisters Star Cluster
- APOD: 2024 September 29 Á Seven Dusty Sisters
- APOD: 2024 September 3 Á Quarter Moon and Sister Stars
- APOD: 2024 January 29 Á The Pleiades: Seven Dusty Sisters
- Pic du Pleiades
- APOD: 2023 February 19 Á Seven Dusty Sisters in Infrared
- Messier 45: The Daughters of Atlas and Pleione