Pleiades (M45)

The Pleiades (M45)

The Pleiades, cataloged as M45 and popularly known as the Seven Sisters, is an open star cluster in the constellation Taurus, located about 440 light-years from Earth. It contains several dozen young, blue stars, the brightest of which are easily visible to the naked eye – usually, one can count 6 to 9, but in reality, there are many more.

Surrounding the stars is a delicate blue reflection nebula that reflects their light. This is clearly visible in longer exposures and gives the Pleiades their typical veiled appearance. The nebula is not a remnant of star formation but is likely interstellar dust that the cluster is currently passing through.

The Pleiades are among the most iconic objects of the night sky and a frequent target for beginning astrophotographers – combining brightness, beauty, and a distinct shape.

Acquisition

During various nights, whenever the HorseHead or Orion were still below the horizon and hadn't risen yet, I filled the imaging time with the Pleiades.

Acquisition took place on these nights: Oct 24, Nov 1, 2, 3, 30, and Dec 29, 30, 31.

Once again, everything was captured using N.I.N.A and PHD2

Processing

The classics: DSS, PixInsight, and GraXpert.