allzuloo.blogg.se - The clusters

The Pleiades cluster has around 800 solar masses or about 80.000% of the Sun’s mass. It is so large and bright that it can be seen from Earth with the naked eye. The Pleiades open star cluster is located at around 444 light-years / 136 parsecs away from the Sun. Gravity pulled the swirling gas and dust together and formed the Pleiades cluster which is now dominated by very hot blue and luminous stars. Some computer simulations have demonstrated that the Pleiades were probably formed from a compact configuration that resembled the Orion Nebula.Īll the stars in the Pleiades cluster have a common origin, they formed through a gigantic molecular cloud of dust and gas.

This open cluster is among the closest star clusters to Earth.

The Pleiades, with its thousands of stars, formed between 75 and 150 million years ago. One of the earliest known depictions of the Pleiades is probably a Northern German Bronze Age artifact known as the Nebra sky disk, which is dated to about 1600 BC. Many ancient cultures from around the world knew about them. The Pleiades are a prominent sight in winter in the Northern Hemisphere and are easily visible out to mid-Southern latitudes.

The name is said to be derived from that of their mother, Pleione, and thus meaning “daughters of Pleione”, however, the name of the star cluster almost certainly came first, and Pleione was invented to explain it. In Greek mythology, the name “Pleiades” was used for the seven divine sisters, daughters of the Oceanid nymph Pleione, and the Titan Atlas. The name “Pleiades” comes from Ancient Greek, and it most likely comes from “plein”, which translates to “sail”, since the cluster’s importance in delimiting the sailing season in the Mediterranean Sea – “the season of navigation began with their heliacal rising.” Thus, the nine brightest Pleiades stars are Alcyone, Atlas, Electra, Maia, Merope, Taygeta, Pleione, Celaeno, and Asterope/Sterope. The brightest stars in the Pleiades cluster are named after the Seven Sisters of Greek mythology and their parents.The Pleiades cluster is very bright, though, it cannot be seen during May and June since the Sun blocks our view of the cluster in that period.The apparent magnitude of the Pleiades cluster is 1.6.

The apparent dimensions of the Pleiades cluster are estimated to be at around 110 arcminutes.

Astronomers estimate that the Pleiades open star cluster will continue to exist for another 250 million years, after which it will disperse due to gravitational interactions with its galactic neighborhood.

The reflection nebula in the Pleiades cluster is now considered to be an unrelated dust cloud in the interstellar medium through which the Pleiades stars are currently passing through.

Some believed that these nebulas were the remnants from the formation of the cluster.

Many reflection nebula are present around the brightest Pleiades stars.

The Pleiades open cluster is dominated by hot blue and luminous stars that have formed between 75 to 150 million years ago.

Both the constellation of Taurus and the Pleiades were known to the ancients, and many myths and legends were associated with them.

The Pleiades is among the nearest star clusters to Earth, and it is also visible to the naked eye.

The Pleiades open star cluster is located in the zodiacal constellation of Taurus, the celestial bull, at around 444 light-years / 136 parsecs away from the Sun.