Pleiades Cluster/M45 - a shimmering cluster of blue stars veiled in cosmic dust
The Pleiades in Taurus is one of the most tantalizing targets for stargazers in Fall and Winter. Visible to the naked eye, it has caught the attention of people all over the globe, from every culture and for thousands of years. Have you seen it? If not, it should be at or near the top of your list of celestial targets to explore.
The Pleiades is big in our sky -- nearly 2.0° across. For comparison, a full moon is 0.5° across. So, in terms of area, the Pleiades appears 16 times larger than a full moon!
No wonder our ancestors from all over the globe were intrigued by it. It's mentioned three times in the Bible as well as in Homer's Iliad and Odyssey. The Japanese named it Subaru, which means unity. Other cultures saw the stars representing orphans, wives, sisters and more.
According to Greek mythology, a beautiful sea nymph named Pleione and a Titan named Atlas (who is often shown holding up the earth), parented seven daughters: Alcyone, Electra, Maia, Merope, Taygeta, Celaeno and Asterope. Do your recognize Maia? You should.... our month of May is named for her.
By the way, these are all Greek names and are not pronounced the way you would in English. For example, Alcyone is pronounced al-sahy-uh-nee and Merope is pronounced mer-uh-pee. Can you figure out Pleione and Asterope?
In one story, the hunter, Orion, pursued the mother Pleione and her daughters. To save them, the god Zeus, turned the women into a flock of doves and placed them in the sky as stars. Somehow, Atlas got up there too. The Greek word peleiades means flock of doves. Because of this story, the Pleiades is often called the Seven Sisters.
How many of the stars you'll actually see without optical aid will depend on your eyesight and how dark your skies are. Most people can see 6 to 7 stars in the Pleiades, but under excellent conditions, 9 to 12 or more may be visible, turning this famous “Seven Sisters” cluster into an even richer cosmic treasure.
One look at the Pleiades star cluster through binoculars or a small telescope and you'll understand its enormous appeal among stargazers. Considering that there are about 3,000 stars in the cluster, you'll see more stars than you can count. These stars glisten brilliantly because they are very young at only 100 million years old, very hot which causes them to glow blue, and very close at just 420 light years away.
What makes the Pleiades even more unique is that there is a enormous cloud of dust that is enveloping the cluster and reflecting the blue light of the stars. Under ideal conditions, it may be possible to catch a glimpse of the incredible wisps of nebulosity. Astronomers believe the nebula is unrelated to the cluster and just happens to be passing by at this time. How fortunate for us!
Stargazers use both low and moderate power with the Pleiades. Low power allows viewing the entire cluster making it easy to identify the sisters and parents. Higher power reveals a wealth of star pairs, triangles, arcs and chains that invite further exploration.
The Pleiades are visible from autumn through spring, riding high in the night sky by November, and are often one of the first deep-sky objects people learn to recognize. For stargazers, M45 is more than just a beautiful cluster — it’s a classic celestial landmark, rich in mythology, easily found, and always a joy to revisit.
Pleiades Cluster/M45
Rating: 🟣 Showpiece Target
Level: 🟣 Very Easy
How:
When: Nov - Mar
🌟 One of the Brightest and Closest Star Clusters At about 440 light-years away, the Pleiades is one of the nearest open clusters to Earth and shines brightly enough to be easily visible to the naked eye, even from suburban skies.
🌟 Stunning in Binoculars The Pleiades is a textbook binocular object—its wide spread and brilliant stars fill the field beautifully, revealing dozens of stars arranged in a delicate pattern.
🌟 Surrounded by a Blue Reflection Nebula Long-exposure photos reveal the Pleiades’ wispy blue reflection nebula, caused by starlight scattering off nearby dust—adding scientific and visual intrigue.
🌟 A Great Target for Beginners Bright, beautiful, and easy to find in the constellation Taurus, the Pleiades are a perfect introduction to stargazing and a favorite for outreach and public events.
🌟 Rich in Myth and Culture The Pleiades are one of the most widely recognized asterisms across cultures, with legends in Greek, Japanese, Native American, and many other traditions—linking skywatching with human history.
🌟 Beautiful All Winter Long The Pleiades rise in the east on autumn evenings and remain high in the sky throughout winter, making them a reliable highlight of the season.
Pleiades Cluster/M45
Names
Pleiades, Seven Sisters, Subaru Cluster, Messier 45 (M45)
Reflection nebula: a cloud of dust that shines by reflecting the light of nearby stars, often appearing blue due to scattered starlight.
Open cluster: a loose group of a few dozen to a few thousand young stars that formed together and are loosely bound by gravity.
Pleiades Cluster/M45
Find the constellation Orion and the three central stars known as the Belt of Orion.
Hop two times, first from the Belt of Orion to bright red-orange Aldebaran in Taurus (+0.99), and then to the Pleiades star cluster which is visible to the naked eye in most skies.
Using a binocular, or low-powered telescope eyepiece, find the Pleiades and explore!
Pleiades Cluster/M45
✅ Look for it in Taurus near the V-shape of the Hyades. The Pleiades are located above the Hyades and Aldebaran in the evening sky during autumn and winter. They’re bright enough to spot even from light-polluted suburbs.
✅ View it with the naked eye for its classic shape. Most people can see six or seven stars under dark skies, with the main arc resembling a tiny dipper. Some can see more with excellent eyesight and dark conditions.
✅ Use binoculars for the best overall view. Binoculars (7×50 or 10×50) are perfect for framing the cluster’s wide spread. Dozens of stars appear, and the elegant curves and chains of stars become vivid and crisp.
✅ Avoid high magnification in telescopes. The Pleiades span over 2 degrees of sky, so most telescopes will not show the whole cluster unless using a very low-power, wide-field eyepiece.
✅ Scan slowly to enjoy the star chains and structure. Take your time moving across the cluster. The more you observe, the more star patterns and subtle arrangements you’ll begin to notice.
✅ Try observing under a moonless sky to improve contrast. While the cluster is bright, the fainter background stars and possible traces of reflection nebulosity are best seen without moonlight interfering.
✅ Look for nebulosity in larger scopes or astro-images. Under very dark skies with a large aperture or in long-exposure astrophotography, you may spot faint blue reflection nebulosity surrounding the brighter stars.
✅ Use the Pleiades as a seasonal marker. The appearance of the Pleiades in the evening sky signals the arrival of late autumn and early winter and has been used as a seasonal indicator by many cultures.
Pleiades Cluster/M45
✅ Naked Eye
Messier 45, the Pleiades Cluster, is striking to the naked eye as a tight grouping of six or seven bright stars, often described as a miniature dipper, standing out clearly even in light-polluted skies and especially brilliant under dark ones.
✅ Binoculars
Through binoculars, it becomes a dazzling display of dozens of blue-white stars scattered across a broad field, forming delicate arcs and curves that enhance its elegance and coherence as a true cluster.
✅ Small Telescope
In a small telescope with a wide field of view, the Pleiades remain beautiful, with sharper star images and subtle differences in brightness among members, though the overall pattern remains best appreciated at low power.
✅ Medium Telescope
A medium telescope begins to show more faint stars scattered throughout the cluster, but the narrow field of view makes it harder to take in the entire group at once, slightly reducing the visual impact of its arrangement.
✅ Large Telescope
In a large telescope, the Pleiades are resolved into brilliant points, and under very dark skies with long exposure imaging or careful visual observation, hints of the faint blue reflection nebula surrounding the brightest stars may become visible, but the cluster’s full grandeur is still best experienced through binoculars or low-power wide-field views where its size, symmetry, and brightness can be appreciated all at once.
Pleiades Cluster/M45
Messier 45 is a resilient and bright open cluster, easily seen from almost anywhere, but its true beauty—its misty reflection nebula, starry richness, and sense of floating in deep space—only emerges under dark skies. In Bortle 1–2, it radiates elegance and delicacy; in Bortle 7+, it becomes a sparse group of stars missing the glow that makes it unforgettable. It’s a perfect example of how darkness doesn’t just reveal more—it adds atmosphere and wonder.
🟣 In Bortle 1–2 skies, the Pleiades sparkle like a scattered handful of diamonds across a velvet sky. The brightest stars are sharp and luminous, and dozens of fainter members fill the cluster, creating a glittering swarm. Most magical, though, is the faint, ethereal reflection nebulosity that envelops the stars, especially around Merope and Maia. The misty blue glow gives the cluster a soft, hazy quality and hints at its youth and motion through interstellar dust. The dark, transparent sky enhances contrast, making the entire region feel radiant and deep.
🔵 In Bortle 3–4 skies, the cluster still appears bold and beautiful. The main stars remain vivid, and the overall shape of the Pleiades is clear and compact. Some of the faint nebulosity may still be visible, especially with dark adaptation, but it begins to fade. The star field surrounding the cluster is less dense, which slightly flattens the view, but the Pleiades still feel rich and prominent.
🟢 In Bortle 5–6 skies, the Pleiades lose their magical glow. The brightest stars are still obvious and striking, but the fainter members of the cluster begin to fade, and the nebulosity is almost completely invisible. The cluster appears more like a bright, compact pattern of stars on a grayer background. While still a beautiful object, its mystical, fog-like character is lost.
🟡 In Bortle 7+ skies, the Pleiades are reduced to a simple grouping of bright stars. The main members remain visible, but the fainter cluster stars disappear into the skyglow. The nebulosity is entirely washed out, and the background lacks the richness that gives the cluster its grandeur. The Pleiades still stand out—but as a bare outline rather than a glowing jewel of the deep sky.
Pleiades Cluster/M45
DSOs within 48° or 2 outstretched hands at arm's length
Pleiades Cluster/M45 - a shimmering cluster of blue stars veiled in cosmic dust
Find the constellation Orion and the three central stars known as the Belt of Orion.
Hop two times, first from the Belt of Orion to bright red-orange Aldebaran in Taurus (+0.99), and then to the Pleiades star cluster which is visible to the naked eye in most skies.
Using a binocular, or low-powered telescope eyepiece, find the Pleiades and explore!
