The Pleiades star cluster reveals a beautiful circle of stars when viewed through binoculars or a small telescope. (In contrast, the blue inset shows what the Pleiades looks like to the unaided eye, with only six stars bright enough to be visible.)
The large photo is missing the star that's at the bottom of the inset, since the telescopic field of view wasn't tall enough.
The Pleiades, also called Messier 45, is in the constellation Taurus.
Here's how to match the the inset with the large photo: - Taygeta is the top star in both.
- Underneath Taygeta is Maia (in the large photo, the leftmost of the three stars close together in a row).
- To the right of Maia is Electra (at the far right in the large photo).
- The brightest star in the Pleiades is Alcyone. Alcyone is directly underneath Maia in the inset. In the large photo, Alcyone is the bright star at the very bottom.
- Marope is the star to the right of Alcyone. It's at the bottom right in the large photo.
- Atlas is the star at the bottom of the inset, but the large photo doesn't extend that far down.
Click on the picture for a larger image that makes it easier to see all the stars.
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