Deep-Sky Object
Pleiades (M45)
Also known as M45 · SEVEN SISTERS · SUBARU · THURAYYA · KRITIKA
The Seven Sisters — a young blue cluster.
Visible tonight?
Up now · alt 40° W
- Rises
- 17:46
- Transit
- 01:03
- Sets
- 08:25
An open cluster of hot, blue stars only ~100 million years old. Wreathed in faint reflection nebulosity.
Observing
Easily found in Taurus. The naked eye sees 6–7 stars; binoculars reveal dozens more clustered tightly.
Best viewing
Winter
Observing from Chitral
A naked-eye test of sky quality: from town you will count six stars, from Chitral's dark sites twelve or more. Binoculars are the right instrument — the cluster is over four Moon-widths across and no telescope field will hold it. High overhead in December and January.
History & culture
Known as Thurayya in Arabic astronomy and used across South and Central Asia as a seasonal marker: its heliacal rising has signalled the turn of the agricultural year for millennia.
Read next
Sources
See also
Bok Globule
A small, dark dust cocoon harbouring a young star.
Stellar Association
A loose grouping of young related stars.
Circumplanetary Disc
A disc of material around a young giant planet.
Andromeda Galaxy (M31)
The farthest thing you can see with the naked eye.
Orion Nebula (M42)
A stellar nursery glowing in Orion's sword.
The Milky Way
Our home galaxy, seen edge-on.