Des Pleiades a Hyades
This
cosmic vista stretches almost 20 degrees from top to
bottom, across the
dusty
constellation Taurus.
It begins at the Pleiades and ends at the Hyades,
two star clusters recognized
since
antiquity in Earth's night sky.
At top, the compact
Pleiades star cluster is about 400
light-years away.
The lovely grouping of young cluster stars shine through
dusty clouds that scatter blue starlight.
At bottom, the V-shaped Hyades cluster looks more spread out
in comparison and lies much closer,
150 light-years away.
The
Hyades cluster
stars seem anchored by
bright
Aldebaran, a red giant star with a yellowish appearance.
But Aldebaran actually lies only 65 light-years distant and just
by chance along the line of sight to the Hyades cluster.
Faint and darkly obscuring dust clouds found near the edge of the
Taurus
Molecular Cloud are also evident throughout the celestial scene.
The wide field of view includes the dark nebula
Barnard 22 at left with youthful star
T Tauri and Hind's
variable nebula just above Aldebaran in the frame.