Hyades and Pleiades open star clusters in the constellation Taurus. Pleiades, or Seven Sisters, (M45, right) is an open star cluster of over 1000 stars, of which around 14 are visible to the naked eye. It is around 440 light years from Earth and is surrounded by a reflection nebula (blue). Hyades (bottom left) is the nearest open star cluster to Earth, at 151 light years. It contains over 200 stars, several of which are visible to the naked eye. The bright orange star near Hyades is Aldebaran (Alpha Tauri), which lies 65 light years away from Earth. Dark dusty clouds, especially visible across the top, are part of the Taurus molecular cloud, a large region of star formation. Photographed from Cumeada Observatory, Reguengos de Monsaraz, Portugal. |