Astronomy Picture of the Day [1]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 [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest resolution version available. M45: The Pleiades Star Cluster Image Credit & Copyright: [3]Marco Lorenzi ([4]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 [5]Pleiades can be seen without binoculars from even the depths of a [6]light-polluted city. With a long exposure from a dark location, though, the dust cloud surrounding the [7]Pleiades star [8]cluster becomes very evident. The [9]featured exposure took over 12 hours and covers a sky area several times the size of the full [10]moon. Also known as the [11]Seven Sisters and [12]M45, [13]the Pleiades lies about 400 light years away toward the constellation of the Bull ([14]Taurus). A [15]common legend with a [16]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 [17]Pleiades stars visible, however, may be more or less than seven, depending on the [18]darkness of the surrounding sky and the [19]clarity of the observer's eyesight. Tomorrow's picture: infrared sky spider __________________________________________________________________ [20]< | [21]Archive | [22]Submissions | [23]Index | [24]Search | [25]Calendar | [26]RSS | [27]Education | [28]About APOD | [29]Discuss | [30]> __________________________________________________________________ Authors & editors: [31]Robert Nemiroff ([32]MTU) & [33]Jerry Bonnell ([34]UMCP) NASA Official: Phillip Newman [35]Specific rights apply. [36]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices A service of: [37]ASD at [38]NASA / [39]GSFC & [40]Michigan Tech. U. References 1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/1909/m45_lorenzi_3832.jpg 3. http://www.glitteringlights.com/About/About-Me 4. http://www.glitteringlights.com/ 5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleiades 6. http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/image/0208/earthlights02_dmsp_big.jpg 7. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap091205.html 8. http://asterisk.apod.com/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=18009 9. http://www.glitteringlights.com/Images/Open-and-Globular-clusters/i-3CJCbtP 10. http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/profile.cfm?Object=Moon 11. http://www.naic.edu/~gibson/pleiades/pleiades_myth.html 12. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap131122.html 13. http://www.skyandtelescope.com/astronomy-news/observing-news/many-pleiades-can-see10222014/ 14. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taurus_(constellation) 15. http://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/0810/0810.1592.pdf 16. http://kencroswell.com/GD50.html 17. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6prI0Zfw80 18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap010827.html 19. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Snellen_chart.svg 20. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap190831.html 21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html 23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html 24. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search 25. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html 26. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss 27. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html 28. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html 29. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=190901 30. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap190902.html 31. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html 32. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ 33. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html 34. http://www.astro.umd.edu/ 35. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 36. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html 37. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 38. https://www.nasa.gov/ 39. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ 40. http://www.mtu.edu/