Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Taurus (Tau)  ·  Contains:  13.96  ·  16 Tau  ·  17 Tau  ·  18 Tau  ·  19 q Tau  ·  20 Tau  ·  21 Tau  ·  22 Tau  ·  23 Tau  ·  24 Tau  ·  25 eta Tau  ·  26 Tau  ·  27 Tau  ·  28 Tau  ·  416 Vaticana  ·  Alcyone  ·  Asterope  ·  Atlas  ·  Barnard's Merope Nebula  ·  Celaeno  ·  Electra  ·  IC 349  ·  M 45  ·  Maia  ·  Maia Nebula  ·  Merope  ·  Merope Nebula  ·  NGC 1432  ·  NGC 1435  ·  Pleione  ·  And 11 more.
M45 The Pleiades, Dale A Chamberlain
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M45 The Pleiades

Acquisition type: Electronically-Assisted Astronomy (EAA, e.g. based on a live video feed)
M45 The Pleiades, Dale A Chamberlain
Powered byPixInsight

M45 The Pleiades

Acquisition type: Electronically-Assisted Astronomy (EAA, e.g. based on a live video feed)

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Description

The Pleiades, also known as the Seven Sisters and Messier 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.

The cluster is dominated by hot blue and 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 the formation of the cluster but are now considered likely to be an unrelated dust cloud in the interstellar medium through which the stars are currently passing.

Computer simulations have shown that the Pleiades were probably formed from a compact configuration that resembled the Orion Nebula. 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.

It is approximately 444 light-years away.

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M45 The Pleiades, Dale A Chamberlain