M45 - Pleiades

Image Title: M45 - Pleiades

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Date image was taken: November 13, 2025

Location: Faggiano (TA) Italy

Data Acquisition Method: Personal Telescope Setup

Description and Details: The Pleiades, also known as M45, are a landmark of the winter sky and one of the most famous and easily recognizable open star clusters in the night sky. Visible even to the naked eye, they shine in the constellation Taurus and lie about 440 light years from Earth. Their name comes from Greek mythology: the seven sisters, daughters of Atlas and Pleione, pursued by Orion and protected by Zeus by transforming them into stars.

In reality, the cluster contains hundreds of young stars, but only the brightest can be seen without optical aid. Their estimated age is about 100 million years. One of the most fascinating characteristics of the Pleiades is the blue nebulosity that surrounds them. This is interstellar dust illuminated by reflection from the hot, bright B-type stars.

From an astrophotographic perspective, the Pleiades offer a spectacular subject, a must for astrophotographers, combining blue stars, delicate dust, and a dark celestial background that highlights the cluster’s fine nebulous filaments.

Name: Raffaele Calcagno

Website or Facebook Profile: http://www.instagram.com/astro_raffaele_c?igsh=b3dzNzhwbHF6cHNw&utm_source=qr