The Pleiades

The Story

The Pleiades (Messier 45), also known as 'The Seven Sisters', constitute the most famous and brightest open cluster in the sky. Located in the constellation Taurus about 440 light-years away, these extremely hot blue stars (spectral class B) are relatively young, having formed about 100 million years ago.

The most fascinating aspect in astrophotography is the blue reflection nebula wrapping the main stars. Contrary to what was believed in the past, this nebulosity is not the remnant of the molecular cloud that generated the cluster, but an independent interstellar dust cloud that the Pleiades are passing through by chance in their galactic motion. The starlight is scattered by dust particles, creating the characteristic ethereal halo.

Containing over 1,000 confirmed members, the cluster will dominate the sky for another 250 million years before dispersing due to gravitational interactions with the rest of the galaxy.

Technical Data

• Camera: Nikon D5300
• Mount: Omegon Minitrack LX3
• Integration: 3h
• Software: TStar