M45_Pleiades_2024
Not a new target, but always a pretty one and challenging one with so many subtle wisps of cosmic dust.
The Pleiades (Messier 45) is an open star cluster containing young (around 100 million years old) B-type stars in the northwest area of the constellation Taurus. At a distance of about 444 light years, it is among the nearest star clusters to Earth and the nearest Messier object to Earth.
The Pleiades contains multiple reflection nebulae — dust that is illuminated by the hot blue stars. This dust cloud was once thought to be leftover material from the cluster's formation but is now believed to be an unrelated dust cloud through which the stars are currently passing.
Charles Messier was an avid comet hunter and compiled a catalog of deep-sky objects to help prevent other comet enthusiasts from wasting their time studying objects that were not comets. Messier published his catalog of comet-like objects in 1771, and the inclusion of the Pleiades has been noted as curious, as most of Messier's objects were much fainter and more easily confused with comets. One possible explanation is that Messier simply wanted to have a larger catalog than his scientific rival Lacaille, whose 1755 catalog contained 42 objects. Messier's original catalog contained 41 objects, so he added some bright, well-known objects to boost the number on his list to 45. In later years, with the help of his friend and colleague Pierre Méchain, the list of entries was increased to 103. The current Messier list stands at 110 entries.
Data for the attached image was shot through red, green and blue filters using a monochrome camera. Total exposure times were blue - 14 hr, green - 9 hr, and red - 9 hr.
M45_Pleiades_2024
Not a new target, but always a pretty one and challenging one with so many subtle wisps of cosmic dust.
The Pleiades (Messier 45) is an open star cluster containing young (around 100 million years old) B-type stars in the northwest area of the constellation Taurus. At a distance of about 444 light years, it is among the nearest star clusters to Earth and the nearest Messier object to Earth.
The Pleiades contains multiple reflection nebulae — dust that is illuminated by the hot blue stars. This dust cloud was once thought to be leftover material from the cluster's formation but is now believed to be an unrelated dust cloud through which the stars are currently passing.
Charles Messier was an avid comet hunter and compiled a catalog of deep-sky objects to help prevent other comet enthusiasts from wasting their time studying objects that were not comets. Messier published his catalog of comet-like objects in 1771, and the inclusion of the Pleiades has been noted as curious, as most of Messier's objects were much fainter and more easily confused with comets. One possible explanation is that Messier simply wanted to have a larger catalog than his scientific rival Lacaille, whose 1755 catalog contained 42 objects. Messier's original catalog contained 41 objects, so he added some bright, well-known objects to boost the number on his list to 45. In later years, with the help of his friend and colleague Pierre Méchain, the list of entries was increased to 103. The current Messier list stands at 110 entries.
Data for the attached image was shot through red, green and blue filters using a monochrome camera. Total exposure times were blue - 14 hr, green - 9 hr, and red - 9 hr.