M45
Pleiades
| Typ: | Open cluster |
| Constellation: | Taurus |
| Size: | 110' |
| Distance: | 0.39–0.46 kLj |
| Brightness: | 1.6 mag |
| Position: | RA:03h 47m 24s DEC:+24° 07′ 00″ |
| Max. height: | 64.12°, Nov. (midnight at +50°N) |
| Show in Stellarium |
| Details: | Read more on Wikipedia |
The Plejades, or Seven Sisters, is the nearest starcluster in the Messier catalog and the brightest as well. It is observable with the naked eyes even under bad sky conditions. It was already mentioned in ancient times and observed from early astronomers like Galileo.
The starcluster is dominated by seven quite bright, blue stars which illuminate the surrounding stellar medium.
For the Plejades 580mm with an APS-C sensor is slightly too much focal ratio, so the full image was taken with only 360mm and a fast reflector telescope (f/2.8, ASI2600MM, 1.1h L, 3x0.9h RGB, 3.75h total):