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The brightest stars of the cluster are named the Seven Sisters in early Greek mythology: Sterope, Merope, Electra, Maia, Taygeta, Celaeno, and Alcyone. Later, they were assigned parents, Pleione and Atlas. [17] As daughters of Atlas, the Hyades were sisters of the Pleiades. The following table gives details of the brightest stars in the cluster:
Alcyone / æ l ˈ s aɪ ə n iː /, [11] designated η Tauri (Eta Tauri, abbreviated Eta Tau, η Tau), is a star in the constellation of Taurus. Approximately 440 light-years from the Sun, it is the brightest star in the Pleiades open cluster, which is a young cluster, around 100 million years old. There are a number of fainter stars very close ...
Maia / ˈ m eɪ ə /, designated 20 Tauri (abbreviated 20 Tau), is a star in the constellation of Taurus. It is a blue giant of spectral type B8 III, a chemically peculiar star, and the prototype of the Maia variable class of variable star. Maia is the fourth-brightest star in the Pleiades open star cluster (Messier 45), after Alcyone, Atlas ...
This is an open cluster of stars known as the Pleiades, or Seven Sisters. Scan this area with binoculars and you can count more than seven stars in the Pleiades.
Annotated night sky image showing Auriga and the Pleiades—Capella is the brightest star, towards top left With an average apparent magnitude of +0.08, Capella is the brightest object in the constellation Auriga , the sixth-brightest star in the night sky, the third-brightest in the northern celestial hemisphere (after Arcturus and Vega ), and ...
Pleione [note 1] is a binary star and the seventh-brightest star in the Pleiades star cluster . It has the variable star designation BU Tauri (BU Tau) and the Flamsteed designation 28 Tauri (28 Tau). The star is located approximately 138 parsecs (450 light-years) from the Sun, appearing in the constellation of Taurus.
However, many more stars are visible with even a modest telescope. [21] Astronomers estimate that the cluster has approximately 500–1,000 stars, all of which are around 100 million years old. However, they vary considerably in type. The Pleiades themselves are represented by large, bright stars; also many small brown dwarfs and white dwarfs exist
Electra / ə ˈ l ɛ k t r ə /, [11] designated 17 Tauri, is a blue-white giant star in the constellation of Taurus located approximately 400 light years away. It is the third-brightest star in the Pleiades open star cluster (), visible to the naked eye with an apparent magnitude of 3.7.