I stepped out at around 9 p.m. to Look UP toward the west and was finally able to see some stars and a few familiar constellations. It’s hard to miss Orion, high above the horizon. To the right or north of Orion is Taurus and inside that constellation is a star cluster that looked especially brilliant, named Pleiades. To the right or north of Pleiades but, closer to the horizon, is Jupiter.
Pleiades isn’t a part of the Taurus constellation but is an asterism, which is any identifiable pattern or group of stars. Pleaides is also called Messier 45 or M45. It also known as the “Seven Sisters” resulting from Greek mythology. The stars represent the daughters of the sea-nymph Pleione and the Titan Atlas, as well as their parents. The names of the brightest stars in the cluster starting with the brightest are Alcyone, Atlas, Electra, Maia, Merope, Taygeta, Pleione, Celaeno and Asterope.
Typically, this when I’d expand on the mythology, but since it’s supposed to be clear, let’s learn more about each of these stars and then we’ll explore the stories of this family. Alcyone is a binary system where the primary component is a blue-white giant that is 8.2 times larger than the sun and six times more massive and 2,400 times more luminous. Atlas is a triple star system. Electra is another blue-white giant. Maia is a blue giant and is the central star of the Maia Nebula, which explains why it looks especially blue and a bit fuzzy. Merope is a blue subgiant that is also surround by another nebula, the Merope Nebula and also looks a little fuzzy. Taygeta is another triple star system that has a blue-white subgiant as the primary component. Pleione is a hot, main sequence dwarf. It is 190 times more luminous than the sun and its mass is 3.4. It rotates so fast that it has a circumstellar disk of ejected material orbiting it. Celaeno is blue subgiant star that is 4.4 times larger than the sun and nine to 10 times more massive. Asterope is also called Sterope and is another binary system. The stars in this system are 21 Tauri, which is blue, main sequence star and the other star is 22 Tauri is a white main sequence dwarf. They say it’s best to observe these stars with binoculars instead of a telescope.
It’s also worth noting that the smiling crescent moon will have a close approach with Jupiter on Valentine’s Day, 10:05 p.m. With any luck, we’ll be able to see them through the clouds. The moon will also have another close approach with Pleaides Friday and should be visible after sunset until 1 a.m.
Look Up appears in the weekend edition. If you have any astronomical questions or facts you’d like to share email news@smdailyjournal.com with the subject line “Look Up.”
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