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. 2023 January 5 [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest resolution version available. Messier 45: The Daughters of Atlas and Pleione Image Credit & [3]Copyright: [4]Stefan Thrun Explanation: Hurtling through a [5]cosmic dust cloud a mere 400 light-years away, the [6]lovely Pleiades or Seven Sisters open star cluster is well-known for its striking blue [7]reflection nebulae. It lies in the night sky toward the constellation Taurus and the Orion Arm of our Milky Way galaxy. The [8]sister stars are not related to the [9]dusty cloud though. They just happen to be passing through the same region of space. Known since antiquity as a compact grouping of stars, [10]Galileo first sketched the star cluster viewed through his telescope with stars too faint to be seen by eye. [11]Charles Messier recorded the position of the cluster as the 45th entry in his famous catalog of things which are not comets. In Greek myth, the [12]Pleiades were seven daughters of the astronomical titan Atlas and sea-nymph Pleione. Their parents names are included in the [13]cluster's nine brightest stars. This well-processed, color-calibrated [14]telescopic image features pin-point stars and detailed filaments of interstellar dust captured in over 9 hours of exposure. It spans more than 20 light-years across the Pleiades star cluster. Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space __________________________________________________________________ [15]< | [16]Archive | [17]Submissions | [18]Index | [19]Search | [20]Calendar | [21]RSS | [22]Education | [23]About APOD | [24]Discuss | [25]> __________________________________________________________________ Authors & editors: [26]Robert Nemiroff ([27]MTU) & [28]Jerry Bonnell ([29]UMCP) NASA Official: Phillip Newman [30]Specific rights apply. [31]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices A service of: [32]ASD at [33]NASA / [34]GSFC, [35]NASA Science Activation & [36]Michigan Tech. U. References 1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2301/M_45_Plejarden_Stefan_Thrun_klein4096.jpg 3. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 4. https://www.astrobin.com/users/Stefan-Harry-Thrun/ 5. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap101118.html 6. http://www.naic.edu/~gibson/pleiades/ 7. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap011228.html 8. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap200404.html 9. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap070413.html 10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleiades#/media/File:Pleiades_Sidereus_Nuncius.png 11. https://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/hubble-s-messier-catalog 12. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleiades_(Greek_mythology) 13. https://astronomy.com/sitefiles/resources/image.aspx?item={EACD7456-90E5-4EC4-876C-EB91BCACF096} 14. https://www.astrobin.com/9nz1d8/ 15. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap230104.html 16. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html 18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html 19. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search 20. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html 21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss 22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html 23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html 24. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=230105 25. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap230106.html 26. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html 27. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ 28. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html 29. http://www.astro.umd.edu/ 30. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 31. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html 32. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 33. https://www.nasa.gov/ 34. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ 35. https://science.nasa.gov/learners 36. http://www.mtu.edu/