M45

E18788

M45 is the Pleiades, a prominent open star cluster in the constellation Taurus visible to the naked eye and known since antiquity.

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Observed surface forms (1)

Surface form Occurrences
M 45 1

Statements (48)

Predicate Object
instanceOf Messier object
deep-sky object
open star cluster
age about 100 million years
alsoKnownAs M45
surface form: M 45

Messier 45
Pleiades
Seven Sisters
angularSize about 110 arcminutes
apparentMagnitudeV 1.2
bestSeenIn Northern Hemisphere
bestSeenSeason late autumn
winter
brightestStar Alcyone
brightMembersVisibleToNakedEye about 6 to 9
catalog Messier catalogue
catalogCode M45
Messier 45
containsStar Alcyone
Titan
surface form: Atlas

Celaeno
Electra
Maia
Merope
Pleione
Taygeta
culturalSignificance important in Greek mythology
important in many world cultures
declination +24° 07′
discoveredSince antiquity
distanceFromEarth about 135 parsecs
about 440 light-years
galacticLocation in the Orion Arm of the Milky Way
greekMythologyAssociation Seven Sisters
surface form: the Seven Sisters, daughters of Atlas and Pleione
hasReflectionNebula yes
japaneseName Subaru
locatedInConstellation Taurus
nebulaType reflection nebula
numberOfStars more than 1000
observedBy Charles Messier
Galileo Galilei
properMotion moving together as a bound cluster
rightAscension 03h 47m
spectralTypeDominant B-type main-sequence stars
typeOfCluster young open cluster
usedFor calibration of distance scale
studies of stellar evolution
visibleToNakedEye yes

Referenced by (4)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

M45 alsoKnownAs M45
this entity surface form: M 45
Pleiades alsoKnownAs M45