Pleiades
Sign in to saveThe Pleiades ( ), also known as Seven Sisters and Messier 45 (M45), is an asterism of an open star cluster containing young B-type stars in the northwest of the constellation Taurus. At a distance of about 444 light-years, it is among the nearest star clusters to Earth and the nearest Messier object to Earth, being the most obvious star cluster to the naked eye in the night sky. It contains the reflection nebulae NGC 1432, an HII region, and NGC 1435, known as the Merope Nebula. Around 2330 BC the Pleiades marked the vernal point. Due to the brightness of its stars, the Pleiades is viewable fr
AI overview
The Pleiades, also called the Seven Sisters, is a nearby cluster of young stars located in the constellation Taurus about 444 light-years from Earth, making it the closest and most easily visible star cluster to the naked eye. It matters because it is one of the nearest star clusters to us and has been significant throughout human history, including marking the spring equinox around 2330 BC.
AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.
Key facts
- Open cluster.image
- Pleiades large.jpg
- Open cluster.image_scale
- 1.2
- Open cluster.caption
- A color-composite image of the Pleiades from the Digitized Sky Survey
- Open cluster.name
- Pleiades
- Open cluster.epoch
- J2000
- Open cluster.dist_ly
- 444 ly on average
- Open cluster.appmag_v
- 1.6
- Open cluster.size_v
- 2°
- Open cluster.mass_msol
- 800
- Open cluster.radius_ly
- 20.34 light years
- Open cluster.age
- 75 to 150 million years
- Open cluster.constellation
- Taurus
Article
17 sectionsContents
- Origin of name
- Astronomical role of M45 in antiquity
- Nomenclature and mythology
- Subaru
- Tolkien's Legendarium
- Observational history
- Distance
- Composition
- Members
- Age and future evolution
- Reflection nebulosity
- Possible planets
- Gallery
- See also
- Notes
- References
- External links
The Pleiades ( ), also known as Seven Sisters and Messier 45 (M45), is an asterism of an open star cluster containing young B-type stars in the northwest of the constellation Taurus. At a distance of about 444 light-years, it is among the nearest star clusters to Earth and the nearest Messier object to Earth, being the most obvious star cluster to the naked eye in the night sky. It contains the reflection nebulae NGC 1432, an HII region, and NGC 1435, known as the Merope Nebula. Around 2330 BC the Pleiades marked the vernal point. Due to the brightness of its stars, the Pleiades is viewable from most areas on Earth, even in locations with significant light pollution.
The cluster is dominated by hot blue luminous stars that have formed within the last 100 million years. Reflection nebulae around the brightest stars were once thought to be leftover material from their formation, but are now considered likely to be an unrelated dust cloud in the interstellar medium through which the stars are currently passing. This dust cloud is estimated to be moving at a speed of approximately relative to the stars in the cluster.