Tuesday, 13 October 2015

M45 the Pleiades or The Seven Sisters

M45 is found in the constellation of Taurus, Made up of around 1000 member stars its one of the closest star clusters to Earth at only 444 light years away. Dominated by young blue stars (75-100 million years old) its a reflection nebula caused by dust reflecting the blue light.
Its often called the Seven Sisters from Greek mythology but as you can see there are more than 7 bright stars. The image below shows the seven sisters and their parents (Atlas and his wife Pleione).

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