Pleiades (M45)
A stunning open star cluster easily visible to the naked eye, also known as the Seven Sisters.
Open cluster in Taurus. Magnitude 1.6.
Can you see it from Guyana?
From Georgetown (6.8° N) it climbs to 73° above the northern horizon at its highest; from Lethem (3.4° N), to 69° above the northern horizon. It is highest at midnight on the night of 15 Nov, in the middle of its season. The page works out tonight's rise, highest point and set for both towns in Guyana time (UTC-4), and where the Moon is.
What you'll see
- Your eyes: Plain to the eye even from Georgetown: a tight group of six or seven stars.
- 10x50 binoculars: Dozens of blue-white stars: binoculars give the best view.
- A small telescope (80 to 100 mm): Too big for most telescope fields; binoculars show it better.
- A camera: About 300 mm frames it; long tracked exposures show its faint blue nebulosity.
How big, how bright, how far
- Size on the sky: 110′, 3.5 Moons across (the Moon is about 31′ wide).
- Brightness: magnitude 1.6. Brighter than the faintest stars Georgetown shows (4.3), and Lethem's (6.0).
- Distance: 444 light-years. The light reaching your eye left it about 440 years ago, around the year 1590.
What it is made of
- Type
- Open Cluster
- Distance
- Approx. 444 Lightyears
- True size
- Approx. 15 Lightyears diameter (core)
- Young Hot Stars: Mainly B-type stars, recently formed (~100 million years ago)
- Reflection Nebulosity: Interstellar dust reflecting starlight, appears blue
- Trace Molecular Gas: Remnants from the cluster's formation
More deep-sky objects: Hyades Cluster · Open Cluster M38 · Open Cluster M36 · Alpha Persei Cluster (Melotte 20) · NGC 752 (Open Cluster) · Open Cluster M37