M45 - Pleiades

This beautiful cluster of stars is an easy object to pick out of the night sky as the summer turns to fall and into winter.  At this time of year, it hovers in the eastern sky after nightfall.  With the naked eye, it looks a bit like a question mark and is sometimes called the Seven Sisters.  Through a telescope, you can begin to see some faint nebulosity around some of the stars.  

The Pleiades have been well known since prehistoric times and figures into many cultures' mythology.  It shows up around 2500 BC in Mesopotamian mythology and Homer mentions it in the Odyssey.  It's also described in the Bible three times.  The passage from Revelations 1:16 is striking as it describes the second coming of the Messiah:

"And he had in his right hand seven stars:  and out of his mouth went a sharp two edged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength."

I found this passage from Alfred Lord Tennyson's poem Locksley Hall a beautiful description:

"Many an night I saw the Pleiades, rising thro' the mellow shade, Glitter like a swarm of fireflies tangled in a silver braid."


Photo Details
Messier 45 - The Pleiades (Seven Sisters)
October 24, 2013
Orion 8" Astrograph on VX Mount
Nikon D3100 Camera
30 sub frames at 15"/frame
Total Exposure Time = 7.5 minutes
Image Stacking in Deep Sky Tracker
Image Processing in Fitswork