November 18, 2007
Galaxies were colliding long before you were born, and they will keep colliding long after us all.
M45: The Pleiades Star Cluster
Birthday · November 18, 2007
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APOD published November 18, 2007. Credit: Antonio Fernandez-Sanchez. A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.
Perhaps the most famous star cluster on the sky, the Pleiades can be seen without binoculars from even the depths of a light-polluted city. Also known as the Seven Sisters and M45, the Pleiades is one of the brightest and closest open clusters. The Pleiades contains over 3000 stars, is about 400 light years away, and only 13 light years across. Quite evident in the above photograph are the blue reflection nebulae that surround the brighter cluster stars. Low mass, faint, brown dwarfs have also been found in the Pleiades.
Image credit: Antonio Fernandez-Sanchez