Messier Catalog » M45 — Pleiades, Subaru, Seven Sisters

Open Cluster in Taurus

A steady mount and extremely clear skies gave me the conditions I was waiting for to test long (3-minute) exposures. This is just 7 of them. I purposefully increased the saturation to make this an almost celebatory looking skyscape.
M45 in 30 minutes at 50mm

A steady mount and extremely clear skies gave me the conditions I was waiting for to test long (3-minute) exposures. This is just 7 of them. I purposefully increased the saturation to make this an almost celebatory looking skyscape.

Version of M45 reprocessed to reveal the interstellar dust.
Dusty M45

Version of M45 reprocessed to reveal the interstellar dust.

40 2-minute exposures in Bortle 5.
M45: The Merope Nebula

40 2-minute exposures in Bortle 5.

The Pleiades, or Seven Sisters, are visible to the naked eye, resolve in binoculars and can be captured by regular cameras. This is the first time I've collected enough exposure to capture the delicate nebulosity that surrounds these beautiful blue stars.
M45: The Luminous Pleiades

The Pleiades, or Seven Sisters, are visible to the naked eye, resolve in binoculars and can be captured by regular cameras. This is the first time I've collected enough exposure to capture the delicate nebulosity that surrounds these beautiful blue stars.

The Pleiades is one of the closest star clusters to Earth and filled with bright blue stars.
M45: The Pleiades

The Pleiades is one of the closest star clusters to Earth and filled with bright blue stars.

A long exposure reveals the wispy tendrils of nebulosity that surround the major stars in M45 like a cocoon.
The Pleiades

A long exposure reveals the wispy tendrils of nebulosity that surround the major stars in M45 like a cocoon.

My favorite signal of winter is the magical faint glow that glimmers in your peripheral vision but fades to a blur when you gaze head on. Magnification reveals several bright blue stars burrowing through long filaments of ionized gas and dust. The brightest of these are the famed Seven Sisters or Pleiades.
The Winter Sky Sapphires

My favorite signal of winter is the magical faint glow that glimmers in your peripheral vision but fades to a blur when you gaze head on. Magnification reveals several bright blue stars burrowing through long filaments of ionized gas and dust. The brightest of these are the famed Seven Sisters or Pleiades.

 
RA

3h 47m

Dec

24°7.2

Magnitude

1.6 ⚪⚫⚫⚫⚫⚫⚫⚫⚫⚫

Size

110

Distance

380 light years

Season

❄ Winter

Difficulty

✅ Very Easy

 
M46: NGC 2437 »