                        Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                              2019 September 1

                       M45: The Pleiades Star Cluster
         Image Credit & Copyright: Marco Lorenzi (Glittering Lights)

   Explanation: Have you ever seen the Pleiades star cluster? Even if you
   have, you probably have never seen it as dusty as this. Perhaps the
   most famous star cluster on the sky, the bright stars of the Pleiades
   can be seen without binoculars from even the depths of a light-polluted
   city. With a long exposure from a dark location, though, the dust cloud
   surrounding the Pleiades star cluster becomes very evident. The
   featured exposure took over 12 hours and covers a sky area several
   times the size of the full moon. Also known as the Seven Sisters and
   M45, the Pleiades lies about 400 light years away toward the
   constellation of the Bull (Taurus). A common legend with a modern twist
   is that one of the brighter stars faded since the cluster was named,
   leaving only six stars visible to the unaided eye. The actual number of
   Pleiades stars visible, however, may be more or less than seven,
   depending on the darkness of the surrounding sky and the clarity of the
   observer's eyesight.

                   Tomorrow's picture: infrared sky spider
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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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