Astronomy Picture of the Day [1]Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2024 December 9 [2]A star field shows many bright blue stars as well as bright blue reflecting gas. Please see the explanation for more detailed information. Pleiades: The Seven Sisters Star Cluster Image Credit & Copyright: [3]Francesco Pelizzo Explanation: Have you ever seen the Pleiades star cluster? Even if you have, you probably have never seen it as large and clear as this. Perhaps the most famous star cluster on the sky, the bright stars of the [4]Pleiades can be seen with the unaided eye even from the depths of a [5]light-polluted city. With a long exposure from a dark location, though, the dust cloud surrounding the [6]Pleiades star [7]cluster becomes very evident. The [8]featured 23-hour exposure, taken from [9]Fagagna, [10]Italy covers a sky area several times the size of the full [11]moon. Also known as the [12]Seven Sisters and [13]M45, [14]the Pleiades lies about 400 [15]light years away toward the constellation of the Bull ([16]Taurus). A [17]common legend with a [18]modern twist is that one of the brighter stars faded since the cluster was named, leaving only [19]six of the sister stars visible to the unaided eye. The actual number of [20]Pleiades stars visible, however, may be more or less than seven, depending on the [21]darkness of the surrounding sky and the [22]clarity of the observer's eyesight. New: [23]Alternative multi-APOD front page Tomorrow's picture: wooden meteors __________________________________________________________________ [24]< | [25]Archive | [26]Submissions | [27]Index | [28]Search | [29]Calendar | [30]RSS | [31]Education | [32]About APOD | [33]Discuss | [34]> __________________________________________________________________ Authors & editors: [35]Robert Nemiroff ([36]MTU) & [37]Jerry Bonnell ([38]UMCP) NASA Official: Amber Straughn [39]Specific rights apply. [40]NASA Web Privacy, [41]Accessibility, [42]Notices; A service of: [43]ASD at [44]NASA / [45]GSFC, [46]NASA Science Activation & [47]Michigan Tech. U. References 1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2412/Pleiades_Pelizzo_9396.jpg 3. https://www.astrobin.com/users/DocRx/ 4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleiades 5. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap200408.html 6. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap210406.html 7. http://asterisk.apod.com/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=18009 8. https://www.astrobin.com/o6o2nx/ 9. https://youtu.be/wDess8goKRA 10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italy 11. https://science.nasa.gov/moon/ 12. https://theconversation.com/the-worlds-oldest-story-astronomers-say-global-myths-about-seven-sisters-stars-may-reach-back-100-000-years-151568 13. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap131122.html 14. https://www.skyandtelescope.com/astronomy-news/observing-news/many-pleiades-can-see10222014/ 15. https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/light-year/en/ 16. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taurus_(constellation) 17. http://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/0810/0810.1592.pdf 18. http://kencroswell.com/GD50.html 19. https://i.pinimg.com/originals/a9/b3/21/a9b321789591e2839c773669a5aa03bd.jpg 20. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6prI0Zfw80 21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap010827.html 22. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Snellen_chart.svg 23. https://apod.akatgx.link/ 24. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap241208.html 25. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 26. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html 27. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html 28. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search 29. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html 30. https://apod.com/feed.rss 31. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html 32. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html 33. https://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=241209 34. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap241210.html 35. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html 36. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ 37. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html 38. http://www.astro.umd.edu/ 39. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 40. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html 41. https://www.nasa.gov/general/accessibility/ 42. https://www.nasa.gov/privacy/ 43. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 44. https://www.nasa.gov/ 45. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ 46. https://science.nasa.gov/learners 47. http://www.mtu.edu/