The January Pleiades January is a great time to look at star clusters in the night sky! There are three different types of star clusters: Globular, Association, and Open. Here we will focus on a famous open star cluster called: The Pleiades About the Pleiades Viewing times: • Nicknames include: 6:13 pm-2:55 am • The Seven Sisters • M45 • At 444 lightyears away from our solar system, The Pleiades are the closest Messier object to Earth. • Messier objects: a set of 110 astronomical objects catalogued by the French astronomer Charles Messier • The Pleiades are an open star cluster. • Open Star Cluster: A group of stars that were all born around the same time from a gigantic cloud of gas and dust • The cluster is 100 million years old Greek Name Scientific Magnitude Name Brightest Dimmest Brightest Can you count all Alcyone 25 Tauri 2.86 seven sisters? Try Atlas 27 Tauri 3.62 looking through a pair Electra 17 Tauri 3.70 of binoculars or a Maia 20 Tauri 3.86 telescope. How many stars can you see Merope 23 Tauri 4.17 now? Taygeta 19 Tauri 4.29 Pleione 28 Tauri 5.09 Celaeno 16 Tauri 5.44 For information on public astronomy nights, check out Sterope/ Asterope 21 & 22 5.64; 6.14 ohio.edu/observatory (Double Star) Tauri The January Pleiades January is a great time to look at star clusters in the night sky! There are three different types of star clusters: Globular, Association, and Open. Here we will focus on a famous open star cluster called: The Pleiades How to see The Pleiades: Averted How to find The Vision Technique Pleiades This is a technique for viewing faint objects that uses 1. Locate Orion’s Belt peripheral vision. It involves not looking directly at the 2. Draw a line using the three object, but looking a little off to the side, while continuing stars in Orion's belt and to concentrate on the object. then follow it upward, past his bow This technique is helpful when viewing large, but distant, 3. Find Aldebaran, the eye of star clusters and nebulae. the constellation Taurus. (This will be the first bright Aside from just your eyes, The Pleiades can be seen star you'll see) clearer through any telescope or binoculars. 4. The open cluster should be Northwest of the constellation Taurus Sky Chart The Pleiades Taurus Activity: Create a Myth The Pleiades were named after a famous Greek Myth about the seven daughters of Atlas and Pleione. Many other constellations have stories linked to them as well. When you Rigel look up at the sky at this cluster, what do you think of? Write a short story about this star Orion cluster or the other constellations around it. Share your new myths with us on Instagram (@ohiomuseumcomplex).