Pleiades Star Cluster, Seven Sisters
The Pleiades, located more than 400 light-years away in the Taurus constellation, are the subject of many legends and writings. The star cluster was born when dinosaurs still roamed the Earth, about 100 million years ago. It is significantly younger than our 5-billion-year-old sun. Some scientists believe that our sun grew up in a crowded region like the Pleiades, before migrating to its present, more isolated home. The spider-web-like network of filaments, colored yellow, green and red in this view, is made up of dust associated with the cloud through which the cluster is traveling. The densest portion of the cloud appears in yellow and red, and the more diffuse outskirts are shown in green hues. One of the parent stars, Atlas, can be seen at the bottom, while six of the sisters are visible at top. Additional stars in the cluster are sprinkled throughout the picture in blue. The Spitzer data also reveal never-before-seen brown dwarfs, or "failed stars," and disks of planetary debris (not pictured).
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Photo credit: © Photo Researchers / Alamy / Afripics
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Keywords: alcyone, asterope, astronomical, astronomy, atlas, celaeno, cluster, electra, maia, merope, nasa, pleiades, pleione, science, sisters, space, spitzer, sst, star, stars, taurus, taygeta, telescope
