The Pleiades Star Cluster
			
		
		
			Credit & Copyright:  
Robert Gendler
		
		
			Perhaps the most famous star cluster on the sky, the 
Pleiades
can be seen without binoculars from even the depths of a 
light-polluted city.  
Also known as the Seven Sisters and 
M45, 
the Pleiades 
is one of the brightest and closest
open clusters.   
The Pleiades 
contains over 3000 stars, is about 400 light years away, 
and only 13 light years across.  
Quite evident in the 
above
photograph are the blue 
reflection nebulae 
that surround the brighter cluster 
stars.  
Low mass, faint, brown dwarfs have also
been found in
the
Pleiades.
(Editors' note:   The prominent
diffraction spikes were added
to the image for aesthetic reasons, produced by kite string donated
by Rob Gendler's kids and placed over the telescope dew shield.)