M45 - The Pleiades

Happy New Year to you all !

 

Messier 45, also known as the Pleiades or Seven Sisters, is a bright open star cluster located in the constellation Taurus. The Pleiades cluster lies at an average distance of 444 light years from Earth.

M45 contains a number of hot, blue, extremely luminous stars and is one of the nearest star clusters to Earth. It is the easiest object of its kind to see without binoculars.

M45 has a core radius of 8 light years and its tidal radius extends to about 43 light years. The total mass of M45 is estimated at about 800 solar masses.

 

At the end of October, I had 2 almost clear nights, and decided to spend it on the Pleiades, as last year the weather didn't allow it.

I was really not happy with framing from the first night (some "recentering" issues after the Meridian Flip), so I took the right panel during the second night. A bit overkilled I know :p

I had to drop a lot of my subs (+/- 50%) due to clouds, so the Exposure Time is not as I wanted.

 

Best Wishes & Clear Skies :)

 

Done