Hyades star cluster: Face of Taurus | Favorite Star Patterns | EarthSky Favorite Star Patterns <a href="">Fill out my Wufoo form!</a> 238,222 subscribers and counting ... Hyades star cluster: Face of Taurus By Bruce McClure in Favorite Star Patterns | January 17, 2017 The V-shaped Hyades star cluster represents the face of Taurus the Bull. The cluster is easy to spot in the evening sky in January. The Hyades. Copyright Jerry Lodriguss/ AstroPix.com Used with permission With the exception of the Ursa Major Moving Cluster , the Hyades cluster is the closest star cluster to Earth, at a distance of 150 light-years . This cluster is very easy to spot in the night sky, because it has a compact and distinctive shape of the letter V. Follow the links below to learn more about the Hyades. Hyades science. The Hyades star cluster can be found easily on January and February evenings, and is edging toward the western half of the sky by March and April evenings. It has the shape of the letter V. The brightest star in the V in Aldebaran.

The small dipper-shaped Pleiades star cluster is nearby. Here are Orion, the bright star Aldebaran in Taurus, and the Pleiades. Notice the three stars of Orion’s “Belt,” that is, three stars in a short row. Notice that these stars point to Aldebaran. How to find the Hyades star cluster. The Hyades cluster is easy to find by using Orion’s Belt, a compact and noticeable line of three blue-white stars in the constellation Orion the Hunter. Draw a line westward (generally toward your sunset direction) through the Belt stars, and you will come to the bright ruddy star Aldebaran , the Bull’s fiery red eye. Aldebaran is part of the V-shape formation of stars that represents in the Bull’s face. This V of stars is the Hyades. Although Aldebaran isn’t a true member of the Hyades star cluster, this bright star is a great guide to this cluster. In fact, Aldebaran is only about 65 light-years distant. The Hyades lies about 2.5 times farther off.

The V-shape figurine of stars (except Aldebaran) highlights the brightest of the Hyades’ few hundred stars. A dozen or more Hyades stars are visible to the unaided eye in a dark country sky, but several dozen of the cluster’s stars can be resolved through binoculars or low power in a telescope. From the northern hemisphere, the Hyades are best seen in the evening sky from around January to April. The constellation Taurus the Bull is home to another bright star cluster, the Pleiades . The Pleiades cluster is more distant than the Hyades at some 430 light-years away. Both the Hyades and Pleiades are easily visible to the unaided eye. Both are enhanced by viewing with binoculars. The Hyades – like their half sister the Pleiades – were nymphs of Greek mythology. Image via Greek Mythology Link – by Carlos Parada History and mythology of the Hyades. According to sky lore, the teary Hyades are the daughters of Atlas and Aethra, who are forever crying for their brother Hyas, who was killed by a lion or a boar.

The Hyades are the half sisters to the Pleiades, the daughters of Atlas and Pleione. The gods purposely kept Atlas’ daughters – the Hyades and the Pleaides – out of reach of Orion, giving them a safe haven from his lustful pursuits. The gods transformed Hyas into the constellation Aquarius, and the lion that killed him into the constellation Leo. The gods placed Aquarius and Leo on opposite sides of the sky for Hyas’ protection. That’s why Aquarius and Leo do not appear in the same sky together. As one constellation sets in the west, the other rises in the east – and vice versa. A telescope reveals over 100 stars in the Hyades cluster. The bright red star here is Aldebaran. Photo via astronomycafe.net. Hyades science. Although the Hyades and Pleaides are half sisters in mythology, science finds no close relationship in space between these two star clusters. Astronomers find that the Pleiades are composed of hot blue-white suns in the heyday of youth, which puts the age of the cluster at about 100 million years.

In contrast, the cooler red giant and white dwarf stars found in the Hyades indicate a vastly older cluster over 700 million years old. Interestingly, astronomers suspect an actual kinship between the Hyades cluster and the Beehive star cluster in the constellation Cancer the Crab. Even though these two star clusters are separated from one another by hundreds of light-years, they are akin in age and travel in a similar direction in space. Astronomers believe these clusters might have originated from the same gaseous nebula some 700 to 800 million years ago. The three bright stars in a row are Orion’s Belt. They point to the Hyades star cluster. Photo via Unishot/Flickr View larger. | More detail on the starry sky around the Hyades. Notice that Orion's Belt (lower left) points to the Hyades. Two Star Clusters Shine in Night Sky This Week Two Star Clusters Shine in Night Sky This Week By Joe Rao, SPACE.com Skywatching Columnist | January 11, 2013 12:24pm ET MORE The night sky around Jan.

11, particularly dark because of a new moon, will showcase two bright star clusters: the Pleiades and the Hyades, near the constellation of Taurus, the Bull. Credit: Starry Night Software With the moon reaching new phase today (Jan. 11), leaving the sky extremely dark, this upcoming week will be an ideal time to get out your binoculars and explore the profusion of star clusters now evident in our evening sky. Such clusters represent aggregations of young, recently born stars. They are in our galaxy's local spiral arm, into whose interior we are looking at this time of year. These stars condensed out of the interstellar gas in this part of the Milky Way. Two of the very best are high in our evening sky and toward the south at around 9 p.m. local time now. You can easily locate them by using the famous three-star belt of Orion, the Mighty Hunter . Extending an imaginary line from the belt, upward and to the right will take you to the clusters of the Hyades and Pleiades of the constellation Taurus , the Bull.

And as a bonus this winter, shining right in between these two star clusters is brilliant Jupiter, shining like a steady, silvery beacon high in the south. You can't miss it. [ Night Sky Stargazing Guide: January 2013 (Sky Maps) ] Interestingly, Australian aborigines believed that the three belt stars of Orion were three young men dancing to the music played by nearby maidens (the Pleiades). And indeed, the most beautiful and famous star cluster in the night sky is the Pleiades . Why Seven Sisters? The traditional Greek legend for the Seven Sisters, as this cluster has long been known, is that they are the daughters of Atlas and Pleione. Their father, Atlas, rebelled against Zeus, the king of the gods, who retaliated by sentencing him to forever holding up the heavens on his shoulders. This so grieved the sisters that Zeus placed them in the heavens so that they could be close to their father. To the average eye, this group looks at first like a shimmering little cloud of light.

But further examination, aided by good eyesight, will reveal a tight knot of tiny stars.Interestingly, widely separated and totally different cultures have always described the Pleiades as the "Seven Sisters," "Seven Maidens," or "Seven Little Girls." Yet only six stars are readily visible to most. Some with more acute vision can count many more. One person, who has claimed to have seen as many as 19 Pleiades with his unaided eyes while observing under pristinely dark skies from rural Arizona, is Allen Seltzer, who three decades ago served as education director at New York's Hayden Planetarium. Seltzer is blessed with unusually keen vision, which he once demonstrated to me by reading a page from The New York Times from across a nearly 20-foot room. But why this cluster has been cited by more than one early culture as having seven members remains a mystery. About 250 stars have been identified as members of this cluster. Gaze at them through binoculars : The brightest stars glitter like an array of icy blue diamonds on black velvet.

Or as Alfred, Lord Tennyson wrote, they "Glitter like a swarm of fireflies tangled in a silver braid." Several stars in the cluster seem to be enveloped in clouds of dust, perhaps left over from the stuff of which they were formed. About 410 light-years away and some 20 light-years across, the group may be no older than 20 million years. V-shape face The Pleiades cluster is in the Bull's shoulder. The Bull's face is plainly marked by the fine V-shape cluster of the Hyades. Notice the bright orange star at the end of the lower arm of the V, which represents the Bull's fiery eye. That's Aldebaran, "the follower;" it rises soon after the Pleiades and pursues them across the sky. Aldebaran ranks as the 13th brightest star in the sky, but this winter, compared to nearby Jupiter, it shines only 1/27 as bright; maybe think of Jupiter as a general and Aldebaran as his lieutenant. The Hyades are among the nearest of the star clusters, which explains why so many of the separate stars can be readily seen.

At a distance of 130 light-years, the Hyades members travel through space like a flock of geese, their paths ultimately converging toward a point between the stars Betelgeuse in Orion and Procyon in Canis Minor, while receding from us at the rate of 100,000 miles per hour (160,000 kilometers per hour). Aldebaran, on the other hand, is just an innocent bystander that does not belong at all to the Hyades and is moving toward the south almost at right angles to the cluster's motion and twice as fast. At 65 light-years away, Aldebaran is half the distance of the Hyades. Taurus's V-shape head is, therefore, going to pieces. For 25,000 years or more it will pass for a V, but after 50,000 years it will be quite out of shape. Joe Rao serves as an instructor and guest lecturer at New York's Hayden Planetarium. He writes about astronomy for The New York Times and other publications, and he is also an on-camera meteorologist for News 12 Westchester, New York.

Astronomer Geoff Gaherty of Starry Night Education contributed to this report. Hyades | Define Hyades at Dictionary.com Hyades noun, (used with a plural verb) 1. Astronomy. a group of stars comprising a moving cluster in the constellation Taurus, supposed by the ancients to indicate the approach of rain when they rose with the sun. 2. Classical Mythology. a group of nymphs and sisters of the Pleiades who nurtured the infant Dionysus and were placed among the stars as a reward. Expand [hahy-adz] /ˈhaɪ ædz/ (Show IPA). Origin of Hyades 1350-1400 1350-1400; Middle English Hiades < Latin < Greek, equivalent to hý(ein) to rain + -ades, plural of -as -ad 1 Dictionary.com Unabridged Examples from the Web for Hyades Expand Contemporary Examples Songs that the Hyades shall sing, Where flap the tatters of the King, Must die unheard in Dim Carcosa.

The Sailor's Word-Book William Henry Smyth He was peculiarly named Hues, and his priests were the Hyades and Hyautes. Astronomical Curiosities J. Ellard Gore Here also are the great moving star clusters such as the Pleiades and the Hyades and all of the brilliant "Orion" stars. Astronomy of To-day Cecil G. Dolmage British Dictionary definitions for Hyades Expand an open cluster of stars in the constellation Taurus Compare Pleiades 1 Word Origin C16: via Latin from Greek huades, perhaps from huein to rain Hyades2 (Greek myth) seven nymphs, daughters of Atlas, whom Zeus placed among the stars after death Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd.

1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012 Word Origin and History for Hyades Expand star cluster in constellation Taurus, late 14c., from Greek Hyades, popularly explained as "rain-bringers" (from hyein "to rain"), because wet weather supposedly began coincidentally with their heliacal rising, but in fact probably from hys "swine" (the popular Latin word for them was Suculae "little pigs"). Grimm ("Teutonic Mythology") lists the Anglo-Saxon glosses of Hyades as Raedgastran, Raedgasnan, Redgaesrum. Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper Pleiades star cluster, aka Seven Sisters | Clusters Nebulae Galaxies | EarthSky Clusters Nebulae Galaxies <a href="">Fill out my Wufoo form!</a> 238,324 subscribers and counting ...

Pleiades star cluster, aka Seven Sisters By Bruce McClure in Clusters Nebulae Galaxies | Favorite Star Patterns | November 7, 2016 November is often called the month of the Pleiades, because it’s when this star cluster – sometimes called the Seven Sisters – shines from dusk until dawn. The Pleiades – aka the Seven Sisters – captured by Greg Hogan in Kathleen, Georgia on October 31, 2016. The Pleiades star cluster – also known as the Seven Sisters or M45 – is visible from virtually every place that humanity inhabits Earth’s globe. It can be seen from as far north as the north pole, and farther south than the southernmost tip of South America. It looks like a tiny misty dipper of stars. Follow the links below to learn more about the Pleiades. Pleiades as calendar, in history and in modern science. Tom Wildoner in Weatherly, Pennsylvania captured this image on October 31, 2016. He wrote: “It shows the Seven Sisters, Pleiades star cluster rising in the east behind some maple trees still sporting some late leaves.” How to see the Pleiades.

If you’re familiar with the famous constellation Orion, it can help you be sure you’ve found the Pleiades. The image at right shows Orion at the bottom left. See the three stars in a row? That’s Orion’s Belt. Draw a line through the three stars of Orion’s Belt to the right – and you come to a V-shaped pattern of stars with a bright star in its midst. The V-shaped pattern is the Face of Taurus the Bull . The bright star in the V – called Aldebaran – depicts the Bull’s Eye. A bit past Aldebaran, you’ll see the Pleiades cluster, which marks the Bull’s Shoulder. In our image, the Pleiades cluster is at the top right. The Pleiades, Hyades and Orion. Aldebaran, Arabic for follower, is thought to be in reference to this star forever chasing the Pleiades across the heavens. As a general rule, the Pleiades cluster rises into the eastern sky before Aldebaran rises, and sets in the west before Aldebaran sets.

The only exception to this rule happens at far southern latitudes – like at South America’s Tierra del Fuego – where the Pleiades rise a short while after Aldebaran rises. In our Northern Hemispheres skies, the Pleiades cluster is associated with the winter season. It’s easy to imagine this misty patch of icy-blue suns as hoarfrost clinging to the dome of night. Frosty November is often called the month of the Pleiades, because it’s at this time that the Pleiades shine from dusk until dawn. But you can see the Pleiades cluster in the evening sky well into April. The Lost Pleiad, a painting by French artist William-Adolphe Bouguereau (1825-1905). Image via Wikimedia Commons. Legend of the Lost Pleiad. Most people see 6, not 7, Pleiades stars in a dark country sky. However, the story about the lost 7th Pleiad harbors a universal theme. The astronomer Robert Burnham Jr. finds the lost Pleaid myth prevalent in the star lore of European, African, Asian, Indonesian, Native American and Aboriginal Australian populations.

Moreover, Burnham suggests the “lost Pleiad” may have basis in fact. After all, modern astronomy has found that the 7th brightest Pleiades star – Pleione – is a complicated and hard-to-understand “shell star” that goes through numerous permutations. These changes cause this star to vary in brightness. Plus people with exceptional eyesight have been known to see many more stars in the Pleiades cluster. Claims go up as high as 20 stars. Miss Agnes Clerke reports that Maestlin, the tutor of Kepler, mapped out 11 Pleiades stars before the invention of the telescope. However, you must be willing to spend time under a dark, moonless sky to see more than 6 or 7 Pleaides stars. Stephen O’Meara, a dark-sky connoisseur, claims that eyes dark-adapted for 30 minutes are 6 times more sensitive to light than eyes dark-adapted for 15 minutes. The surest way to see additional Pleiades stars is to look at this cluster through binoculars or low power in a telescope. Pleiades as calendar, in history and in modern science.

Historically, the Pleiades have served as a calendar for many civilizations. The Greek name “Pleiades” probably means “to sail.” In the ancient Mediterranean world, the day that the Pleaides cluster first appeared in the morning sky before sunrise announced the opening of the navigation season. The modern-day festival of Halloween originates from an old Druid rite that coincided with the midnight culmination of the Pleiades cluster. It was believed that the veil dividing the living from the dead is at its thinnest when the Pleaides culminates – reaches its highest point in the sky – at midnight. On a lighter note, the Zuni of New Mexico call the Pleiades the “Seed Stars,” because this cluster’s disappearance in the evening sky every spring signals the seed-planting season. In both myth and science, the Pleiades are considered to be sibling stars. Modern astronomers say the Pleiades stars were born from the same cloud of gas and dust some 100 million years ago. This gravitationally bound cluster of several hundred stars looms some 430 light-years distant, and these sibling stars drift through space together at about 25 miles per second.

Many of these Pleiades stars shine hundreds of times more brightly than our sun. Enjoying EarthSky? Sign up for our free daily newsletter today! Bottom line: Frosty November is often called the month of the Pleiades – or Seven Sisters – because it’s at this time that the Pleiades shine from dusk until dawn. This post tells you how to find the Pleiades, explains the legends of the lost Pleiad, and gives the history and science of this famous cluster. How to Find the Pleiades Star Cluster: 11 Steps (with Pictures) From the Northern Hemisphere 1 Look for the Pleiades in autumn and winter. In the Northern Hemisphere, the Pleiades star cluster becomes visible to evening observers in October and disappears in April. November is the best time to look for the Pleiades, when they are visible from dusk to dawn and reach their highest point in the sky. [3] In early October, the Pleiades become visible a couple hours after sunset. By about February, the Pleiades are already high in the sky at sunset.

[4] (The exact timing depends on your latitude.) The Pleiades are visible in late summer and early autumn as well, but only in the middle of the night. [5] 2 Face the southern sky. The Pleiades rise in the southeast after dusk and travel west during the night. During their peak in November, they climb high in the sky and disappear in the northwest before dawn. In late winter and early spring, they will only be visible for a few hours, traveling east to west across the southern part of the sky. [6] 3 Find Orion. Orion the Hunter is one of the most famous and distinct constellations in the sky. On a winter evening at a mid-northern latitude, he stands almost due south, about halfway between the horizon and the sky directly above your head. [7] Locate him by his belt, a straight line of three bright stars close together. The red star nearby, Betelgeuse, forms his left shoulder (from your perspective), while the blue giant Rigel on the other side of the belt is his right leg. [8] 4 Follow the line of the belt to Aldebaran.

Treat Orion's belt as an arrow pointing to your next landmark, moving from left to right in the sky. (At most times and places, this will point to the northwest.) The next bright star you see in this direction is another bright, red-orange star: Aldebaran. This is the Arabic word for "Follower," likely named because it chases the Pleiades each night. [9] Aldebaran is not in a perfect line with the belt. Don't try to get there with binoculars, or you may miss it. Aldebaran dips below the horizon around March, or earlier in extreme northern latitudes. [10] If Aldebaran isn't visible, try to follow Orion's belt all the way to Pleiades. 5 Move onward to find the Pleiades. Continue moving your eyes in the same direction (usually northwest), from Orion's belt to Aldebaran and beyond. Fairly near to Aldebaran, you should see a tight cluster of blue stars. These are the Pleiades, also called the Seven Sisters or M45.

[11] Most people can only see six stars with the naked eye, or even just a hazy clump if light pollution interferes. [12] With a clear night and keen, dark-adjusted eyes, you may see more than seven. The Seven Sisters are clustered close together. From end to end the cluster is only ⅔ the width of Orion's Belt. [13] This is much less than the length of the Big Dipper or Little Dipper, star patterns which some novice stargazers confuse with this one. 6 Use Taurus as a guide next time. The red star Aldebaran, described above, is also the eye of the constellation Taurus, the Bull. The Hyades star cluster nearby forms the chin of the bull. If you become familiar with this constellation, you can find it as a starting point and look for the Pleiades nearby. [14] Taurus may be difficult to see during a bright moon, especially near an urban area. [15] Method From the Southern Hemisphere 1 Watch for the Pleiades in spring and summer. The Pleiades are visible from about October to April, during the Southern Hemisphere's spring and summer months.

2 Face the northern sky. During late November, the Pleiades rise in the northeast around dusk and travel west until dawn. As the seasons progress, the Pleiades start higher in the sky when the stars appear, and spend less time in the sky. 3 Look for a line of bright stars. Orion is standing on his head in the Southern Hemisphere, so some observers call this constellation a sauce pan instead, with Orion's sword the handle pointing upward. [16] The rim of the saucepan (or Orion's belt) is a trio of bright stars in a straight line. This distinct shape is a starting point for locating many constellations. This line has the bright red star Betelgeuse on one side, and the bright blue star Rigel on the other. 4 Follow the line left in the sky to Aldebaran. Use the line as an arrow pointing left across the sky. The next bright star in this direction is Aldebaran, a bright red supergiant. This is the eye of the constellation Taurus the Bull. If the sky is clear and the moon is dim, you can see the chin of the bull right next to Aldebaran, formed by the Hyades star cluster.

5 Continue on to the Pleiades. Keep following the same line from Orion's belt, and you'll run into a fairly dim cluster of blue stars. These are the Pleiades, also called the Seven Sisters — although most people can only see six or fewer, and telescopes can see many more. The Pleiades are an "asterism," a star pattern much smaller than a constellation. If you hold your thumb out at arm's length, the cluster is only about twice the width of your thumbnail. [17] Community Q&A If this question (or a similar one) is answered twice in this section, please click here to let us know. Tips Use binoculars instead of a telescope. The Pleiades cover a fairly large area and binoculars have a wider field of view than a telescope When the Pleiades disappear, they still rise above the horizon, but too close to the dawn sun to be visible. Later on, around May or June, they can be seen close to dawn (with difficulty and clear weather). [18] The first "heliacal rising" (rising near the sun) of the year is connected with spring festivals in some areas.

[19] Things You'll Need Updated: Views: 92,421 "This article is great! I know where to find Pleiades in the southern sky and can now relate direction to the Southern hemisphere as the earth turns around and how the stars are seen at different times of the year."..." more - Aggalaataaq Amaruq- Nanuq "Being a novice, I've been observing the star cluster for some time and wondering its name. After a little research, I suspected it must be Pleiades. Finally, this your article confirmed it indeed is. Thanks."..." more - Sanjeeb Surin "This is the first time that I have had a clue where to look in the night sky to see the Pleiaedes. Thank you for the clear explanation and easy-to-follow instructions for us non-astronomers. "..." more - Alexandra Newsome "Easy to follow your directions along with illustrations. Saw the Pleiades, but no meteors as in years past. Sigh. Maybe I will see some tonight. That would be most excellent."..." more - Glenys Caldwell "I could follow your description with the illustrations. Pleiades are not difficult to find.

But I didn't see many shooters. Sigh, maybe tomorrow night!"..." more - Glenys Caldwell This article really helped me to visualise the two different skies, Northern and Southern. - Sanchit Malik Tip about Orion's Belt and the pictures were fantastic to give me confirmation. - Sylvia Street Pleiades Star Cluster: Messier 45 | Constellation Guide by admin The Pleiades, also known as the Seven Sisters or Messier 45 , is a famous open star cluster located in Taurus constellation . The brightest stars in the cluster represent the Pleiades, the Seven Sisters in Greek mythology, and their parents, the nymph Pleione and the Titan Atlas. Messier 45 is one of the nearest star clusters to Earth. Its brightest stars lie at a distance between 390 and 460 light years. The cluster is mostly composed of hot, blue, highly luminous stars belonging to the spectral class B with an estimated age under 100 million years.

The Pleiades (pronunciation: /ˈplaɪ.ədiːz/ or /ˈpliːədiːz/) star cluster is about 110 arcminutes in size and has an apparent magnitude of 1.6. It is the easiest star cluster to find in the sky, mainly because of its brightness and size, and it is well known in many different cultures and mythologies. The earliest images of the Pleiades cluster date all the way back to the Bronze Age. PLEIADES STAR CLUSTER FACTS AND LOCATION The Pleiades (Messier 45). Image: Rawastrodata The Pleiades cluster contains more than 1,000 stars, not including unresolved spectroscopic binary stars. Up to 14 stars in the cluster are visible to the naked eye in good viewing conditions. The estimated mass of the cluster is equal to 800 solar masses.

M45 also contains a significant number of brown dwarfs; they are believed to constitute up to 25 percent of all the stars in the cluster, but as they generally have less than 8 percent of the Sun’s mass, the brown dwarfs in M45 contribute less than 2 percent to the total mass of the cluster. The cluster has a tidal radius of approximately 43 light years, and the core radius is about 8 light years. The brightest stars in the Pleiades cluster are surrounded by a faint reflection nebula, sometimes known as the Maia Nebula (NGC 1432), after one of the Seven Sisters. The nebula is a cloud of dust illuminated by the hot, luminous stars in the cluster, which are currently passing through the nebulosity. The estimated age of the cluster is between 75 and 150 million years. The stars are gravitationally bound and are moving in the direction of Orion ’s feet. Messier 45 will exist for another 250 million years or so, after which the stars will disperse as a result of interaction with other stars, molecular clouds, and the spiral arms of the Milky Way Galaxy.

The cluster appears prominently in the sky in winter in the northern hemisphere and in summer in southern latitudes. It is located to the west-northwest of Aldebaran , the brightest star in Taurus , and pretty easy to find on a clear night. The Seven Sisters are most prominent between October and April. In early November, the cluster rises in the east after sunset. In February it lies overhead in the evening. In May, it sets at sunset, before Orion . As the cluster lies near the ecliptic (the Sun’s path across the sky), it can’t be seen in May and June, because it is located too close to the Sun. When M45 is directly overhead, it can be found by following the line from Orion’s Belt. Merope Nebula The Pleiades cluster also contains the Merope Nebula (NGC 1435), a diffuse reflection nebula 30’ in size, suspected to be a supernova remnant. The nebula is also known as Tempel’s Nebula, after Wilhelm Tempel, the German astronomer who discovered it on October 19, 1859.

The Merope Nebula surrounds the star Merope and has a visual magnitude of 13. Reflection nebula IC 349 near Merope in the Pleiades. Image: NASA The Merope Nebula contains IC 349, a small bright knot , 0.5’ in diameter, which is an extension of the larger NGC 1435. IC 349 is sometimes also known as Barnard’s Merope Nebula because it was discovered by Edward Emerson Barnard in November 1890. It is located 36 arcseconds (0.06 light years) to the southwest of the star Merope. M45 has been known since ancient times in cultures across the globe, including the Chinese, the Japanese, the Persians, the Māori , the Maya, the Cherokee, the Aztec, the Sioux, and the Aboriginal Australians. The Japanese mentioned it as Mutsuraboshi, which means “six stars,” in documents dating back to the 8th century.

They also know it as Subaru, meaning “coming together” or “cluster.” (An image of the cluster is used in the car company’s logo.) The cluster is mentioned in the Iliad, the Odyssey, the Bible and the Quran among other texts. It was called MUL.MUL, meaning “the star of stars,” in Babylonian star catalogues. The earliest depiction of the cluster appears on the Nebra sky disk, an artefact dating back to 1600 BC, the Bronze Age. In Hindu mythology, the cluster is associated with Murugan, the war god, who was raised by six sisters and developed six faces, one of each of his mothers. The Aztecs based their calendar on the cluster; the Pleiades’ rising in the east before dawn marked the beginning of their year. The heliacal rising of the cluster in June also marked the beginning of the year for the Māori of New Zealand.

Pleiades (Messier 45) Coordinates: 03h47m24s (right ascension), +24°07’ (declination) Distance: 390 – 460 light years Apparent dimensions: 110 arcminutes Other designations: Messier 45 (M45), Melotte 22 STARS Hubble’s look through the Pleiades (M45). Image: NASA, ESA and AURA, Caltech The brightest stars in the Pleiades cluster are Alcyone (Eta Tauri or 25 Tauri), Atlas (27 Tauri), Electra (17 Tauri), Maia (20 Tauri), Merope (23 Tauri), Taygeta (19 Tauri), Pleione (28 Tauri or BU Tauri), Celaeno (16 Tauri), Sterope (21 and 22 Tauri), and 18 Tauri.

Alcyone Alcyone (pronunciation: /ælˈsaɪ.əniː/) has a visual magnitude of 2.873 and belongs to the stellar class B7IIIe. The star is about 370 light years distant from Earth. It is the brightest of the Seven Sisters and the third brightest star in Taurus constellation , after Aldebaran , Alpha Tauri, and Elnath, Beta Tauri. Alcyone is classified as an eclipsing binary star. The primary component is a blue-white giant star (B7IIIe) 2,400 times more luminous than the Sun and with ten times the solar radius. The star has a projected rotational velocity of 215 km/s, which makes it a very fast spinner, and as a result it is surrounded by a gas disk at the equator. The binary companion is separated by 0.031 arcseconds. The eclipsing binary system has three companions: two 8th magnitude white main sequence stars belonging to the spectral class A, one of which is classified as a Delta Scuti variable, and a yellow-white, class F dwarf.

Atlas Atlas, named after the Seven Sisters’ father, is the second brightest star in the cluster. It is a triple star system with the stellar classification of B8III. It has a visual magnitude of 3.62 and is approximately 381 light years distant from Earth. The Atlas system contains a spectroscopic binary star, with individual components too close to be resolved. The stars have apparent magnitudes of 4.1 and 5.6 and orbit each other with a period of 1,250 days. The binary star has another companion, a faint star with a visual magnitude of 6.8, separated by 0.4 seconds of arc. Electra Electra is another blue-white giant star in the Pleiades cluster. It belongs to the stellar class B6 IIIe. With an apparent magnitude of 3.705, it is the third brightest star in M45. It is about 600 light years distant from Earth. Electra is another fast spinner. It has a projected rotational velocity of 181 km/s.

As a consequence, it is stretched at the equator and flattened at the poles, and because of the mass loss caused by its rapid spinning, the star is surrounded by a disk of gas and emits excess infrared radiation. Maia Maia is also a blue-white giant star. It has the stellar classification of B8III. It has an apparent magnitude of 3.871 and is about 360 light years distant from Earth. It is one of the stars surrounded by the emission/reflection nebula NGC 1432, also known as the Maia Nebula. Maia has a mass four times that of the Sun, 5.5 times the solar radius, and is about 660 times more luminous than the Sun. It is classified as a mercury-manganese star. Merope Merope (pronunciation: /ˈmɛrəpiː/) is a blue-white subgiant with the stellar classification of B6IVev. It has an apparent visual magnitude of 4.113 and is approximately 360 light years distant from Earth. Star Merope (23 Tau) in Pleiades (M45).

Image: Henryk Kowalewski The star is 4.5 times more massive than the Sun and about 630 times more luminous. It has a radius four times that of the Sun. Merope is a Beta Cephei type variable. Its brightness varies by 0.01 magnitudes. It is the central star in the Merope Nebula , a nebula through which the Pleiades cluster is currently passing. The nebula looks brightest around Merope, which is why it was named after the star. Taygeta Taygeta (pronunciation: /teɪˈɪdʒɨtə/) is a triple star in the cluster. It has the stellar classification of B6V, matching a blue-white main sequence dwarf. It has an apparent visual magnitude of 4.29 and is about 440 light years distant from Earth. The primary component in the system is a spectroscopic binary star whose components have visual magnitudes of 4.6 and 6.1. The two stars are separated by 0.012 arcseconds and have an orbital period of 1,313 days.

The binary star has an 8th magnitude companion which is separated by 69 seconds of arc. Pleione Pleione (pronunciation: /ˈplaɪ.əniː/) is a double star belonging to the stellar class B8IVpe. It has a visual magnitude of 5.048 and is about 392 light years distant from Earth. The star is not easy to see without binoculars because it lies close to Atlas, which is 3.7 times brighter. The two stars are separated by less than 5 minutes of arc. Pleione is a hot blue star with a mass 3.4 times that of the Sun and a radius 3.2 times solar. It is significantly smaller than the other bright stars in the cluster. It is about 190 times more luminous than the Sun and it spins close to its breakup velocity, at 329 km/s. The star is classified as a Gamma Cassiopeiae variable and has the variable designation BU Tauri. Its brightness varies from magnitude 4.8 to 5.5.

Gamma Cassiopeiae variables, also known as shell stars, are fast spinning stars surrounded by a disk of gas at the equator. They exhibit irregular changes in luminosity as a result of the outflow of matter. Pleione is known to be a spectroscopic binary star, with components that cannot be resolved because they are separated by only 0.2 seconds of arc. The two stars in the system have an orbital period of 218 days. Celaeno Celaeno (pronunciation: /sɨˈliːnoʊ/) is sometimes known as the Lost Pleiad because it often cannot be seen without binoculars. In less than ideal observing conditions, stargazers can only see six of the Seven Sisters and Celaeno is missing. The star is a blue-white subgiant belonging to the stellar class B7IV. It has a visual magnitude of 5.45 and is about 430 light years distant from Earth. It has about 9-10 solar masses and a radius 4.4 times that of the Sun. It is another fast spinner in the cluster, with a projected rotational velocity of 185 km/s. Pleiades stars.

Image: Ville Koistinen at fi.wikipedia Sterope (Asterope) Sterope, or Asterope (pronunciation: /ˈstɛrɵpiː/, or /əˈstɛrɵpiː/), is a name shared by two stars, designated 21 and 22 Tauri, separated by 0.04° in the sky. 21 Tauri has the stellar classification of B8V, which makes it a blue main sequence dwarf. It has a visual magnitude of 5.76 and is about 440 light years distant from Earth. 22 Tauri belongs to the stellar class A0Vn. It is a white main sequence dwarf, also about 440 light years distant. It has an apparent visual magnitude of 6.43. 18 Tauri 18 Tauri, not associated with a mythical figure or given a proper name, is a blue-white main sequence dwarf belonging to the stellar class B8V. It has an apparent visual magnitude of 5.65 and is also one of the brightest stars in the cluster.

PLEIADES MYTH In Greek mythology, the Pleiades were the seven daughters of Pleione, a sea nymph, and the Titan Atlas. The seven nymphs were sisters to the Hesperides and the Hyades , and they were companions of the goddess Artemis. Their name was derived either from their mother’s name, Pleione, or from the Greek πλεῖν, which means “to sail,” in reference to the nymphs’ role in delimiting the sailing season. The seven sisters were Maia, Electra, Taygete, Alcyone, Celaeno, Sterope and Merope. The Pleiades by Elihu Vedder, 1885 The Pleiades were very well known in Greek culture. The Hecatompedon temple and the Parthenon were oriented to their rising. In Greek mythology, when Atlas was tasked with carrying the heavens on his shoulders as punishment for siding with the Titans in their war against Olympian gods, the hunter Orion started pursuing his daughters in his absence and Zeus turned the sisters first into doves and then into stars to protect them from the hunter’s advances. The constellation Orion , it is said, still pursues the Seven Sisters across the sky.

The Pleiades were also pursued by several Olympians, to whom they bore children who grew up to be prominent figures in Greek mythology. Maia, the eldest of the seven sisters, had an affair with Zeus which resulted in the birth of their son Hermes, who later became the messenger of the gods. Electra and Taygete also had children by Zeus. Electra gave birth to Dardanus and Iasion, and Taygete was mother to Lacedaemon. Dardanus founded the city of Dardania on Mount Ida on the Hellespont. The strait’s modern-day name, the Dardanelles, was derived from his name. Dardanus’ son Tros’ name is the origin of the name of the region Troad, and Tros’ son Ilus founded the city of Ilium, more commonly known as Troy. Iasion established the mystic rites on Samothrace and had twin sons with the goddess Demeter. Zeus killed him with a thunderbolt after realizing the two had an affair. Lacedaemon ruled the country which he named after himself, also naming the capital after his wife, Sparta. Alcyone and Celaeno both had children by Poseidon.

Alcyone gave birth to Hyrieus (father of Orion according to some sources), Hyperenor (who co-founded the cities Hyperea and Anthea) and Aethusa (Apollo’s lover, after whom the portico open to the sun was named), and Celaeno was mother to Lycus and Eurypylus. Sterope had a child with Ares. Oenomaus, their son, was the king of Pisa and the father of Hippodamia. Fearful of a prophecy that said he would be killed by his son-in-law, Oenomaus killed a number of his daughter’s suitors in a chariot race. Hippodamia eventually married Pelops, and their offspring included Agamemnon, Menelaus, Atreus, Thyestes, Aegisthus, and Orestes. Merope, the youngest Pleiad, married Sisyphus and bore him several sons. IMAGES The Pleiades is an open cluster consisting of approximately 3,000 stars at a distance of 400 light-years (120 parsecs) from Earth in the constellation Taurus.

(It also known as “The Seven Sisters”, or the astronomical designations NGC 1432/35 and M45.) Image: NASA, ESA, AURA, Caltech, Palomar Observatory Pleiades (M45, Seven Sisters) open cluster – infrared image from NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope The Pleiades in X-rays, taken by ROSAT. The brightest objects in X-rays have the hottest coronas. The green squares mark the positions of the seven optically brightest stars. Image: NASA VIDEO Pleiade Associates | The Pleiades in mythology Content The Pleiades in mythology In the clear and unpolluted night skies of antiquity the Pleiades star cluster was an object of wonder and interest. It was the subject of myth and legend in almost every culture on the planet. As the Pleiades cluster is close to the ecliptic (within 4°) in the constellation of Taurus it is a spring and autumnal 'seasonal' object in both the northern and southern hemispheres. Being close to the ecliptic, there are frequent occultations of the cluster with the Moon and planets. To our superstitious ancestors these were, no doubt, portentious events.

Likewise, the apparent annual motion of the cluster would have been highly significant. The heliacal (near dawn) rising of the Pleiades in spring in the northern hemisphere has from ancient times augured the opening of the seafaring and farming season: while its dawn autumnal setting marked the season's end. The Pleiades are among the first stars mentioned in literature, appearing in Chinese annals of about 2350 BC. The earliest European references are somewhat later, in a poem by Hesiod in about 1000 BC and in Homer's Odyssey and Iliad . The Bible contains three direct references to the Pleiades in Job 9:9 and 38:31, and Amos 5:8, and a single indirect reference in the New Testament. This latter passage (Revelation 1:16) describes a vision of the coming of the Messiah – who holds, in his right hand, seven stars… The etymological derivation of the name Pleiades (Πλειαδεσ) is uncertain.

Robert Graves, the late English poet and writer, records in his 'The Greek Myths' (1955) that it may be derived from either the Greek 'plein' for 'to sail', or 'pleios' meaning 'many'. Another possible root is from Pindar, an early Greek poet, who named the cluster the Peleiades – 'a flock of Doves' – and this is, perhaps, the original form. A nearby cluster has retained its animalistic classical name of the Hyades, 'the Piglets'. The 19th century poet Alfred Lord Tennyson probably did not realise how metaphorically close to the truth he was when he described, in his poem Locksley Hall, the rising Pleiades: Many a night I saw the Pleiads, rising thro' the mellow shade, Glitter like a swarm of fireflies tangled in a silver braid. Poetic and apt – recent telescope observations have revealed that this most famous of open clusters is comprised of some four hundred stars wreathed in complex nebulæ of dust and gas.

[1] The Seven Sisters In Greek mythology, the Pleiades were seven sisters: Maia, Electra, Alcyone, Taygete, Asterope, Celaeno and Merope. Their parents were Atlas, a Titan who held up the sky, and the oceanid Pleione, the protectress of sailing. After a chance meeting with the hunter Orion, the Pleiades and their mother became the object of his pursuit. Enamoured with the young women he pursued them over the face of the Earth. In pity for their plight, Zeus changed them into a flock of doves, which he set in the heavens. Thus the olympian added the penalty of the absence of his wife and family to the Titan's original punishment of eternally supporting the heavens from the Earth. Only six stars are distinctly visible to the naked eye. The ancient Greeks explained the sudden disappearance of the seventh star in various narratives. According to one, all the Pleiades were consorts to gods, with the exception of Merope. She deserted her sisters in shame, having taken a mortal husband, Sisyphus, the King of Corinth.

Another explanation for the 'lost' star related to the myth of the Electra, an ancestress of the royal house of Troy. After the destruction of Troy, the grief stricken Electra abandoned her sisters and was transformed into a comet – everafter to be a sign of impending doom. The Greek legends of the disappearing star are echoed in Jewish [2] , Hindu and Mongolian folklore: their basis in an actual event seems to be corroborated by astronomical evidence that a clearly visible star in the cluster became extinct towards the end of the second millennium BC. In an alternative myth, the Pleiades were the virgin companions of Artemis, to the ancient Greeks, the goddess of hunting and the Moon. Whilst stalking a hind, the great hunter Orion crept into a sunlit glade, disturbing the innocent play of the sisters. They fled in alarm. His immoderate passions enflamed by their beauty and grace, he pursued them relentlessly, as was fitting for the greatest mortal hunter. In frustration, Artemis pleaded with Zeus to for his intervention. With characteristic olympian sarcasm, he did. As the hunter closed in on his prey, Zeus transformed the sisters into a flock of doves.

They flew into the heavens, beyond the reach of their pursuer, but also removed from earthly companionship with the goddess! Artemis, enraged by these twofold masculine affronts, revenged herself on Orion. Apollo, her brother, having been affronted by the mortal hunter's prowess, was persuaded to set a monstrous scorpion to attack Orion. Not to be outdone in this, in another characteristic display of mordant wit, Zeus set the dead hunter in the heavens in a vain pursuit of the Pleiades through the night sky for eternity, with the constellation Scorpio ever chasing after Orion. Even so the Olympian had some compassion for his daughter: the path of the Moon in the heavens passes close to the Pleiades, and thus Artemis – as the goddess of the Moon – had the solace of their frequent reunions. Hyades - definition of Hyades by The Free Dictionary Hyades - definition of Hyades by The Free Dictionary Also found in: Thesaurus , Encyclopedia , Wikipedia . Related to Hyades: Aldebaran (hī′ə-dēz′) pl.n. 1.

Greek Mythology The five daughters of Atlas and sisters of the Pleiades, placed by Zeus among the stars. 2. A cluster of stars in the constellation Taurus, the five brightest of which form a V, supposed by ancient astronomers to indicate rain when they rose with the sun. [Latin, from Greek Huades, probably from hūs, pig; see sū- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.] Hyades (Astronomy) an open cluster of stars in the constellation Taurus. Compare Pleiades 1 [C16: via Latin from Greek huades, perhaps from huein to rain] Hyades (ˈhaɪəˌdiːz) pl n (Classical Myth & Legend) Greek myth seven nymphs, daughters of Atlas, whom Zeus placed among the stars after death Hy•a•des (-ædz) n.pl. 1. a large cluster of stars in the constellation Taurus, supposed by the ancients to herald rain when they rose with the sun. 2. (in Greek myth) a group of nymphs and sisters of the Pleiades who nurtured the infant Dionysus and were placed among the stars as a reward.

[1350–1400; Middle English < Latin < Greek, =hý(ein) to rain + -ades, pl. of -as -ad 1] ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend: Noun 1. Hyades - (Greek mythology) 7 daughters of Atlas and half-sisters of the Pleiades; they nurtured the infant Dionysus and Zeus placed them among the stars as a reward Greek mythology - the mythology of the ancient Greeks nymph - (classical mythology) a minor nature goddess usually depicted as a beautiful maiden; "the ancient Greeks believed that nymphs inhabited forests and bodies of water" Want to thank TFD for its existence? Tell a friend about us , add a link to this page, or visit the webmaster's page for free fun content . Link to this page: Taurus References in classic literature ? But when the Pleiades and Hyades and strong Orion begin to set (31), then remember to plough in season: and so the completed year (32) will fitly pass beneath the earth.

View in context If it were worth the while to settle in those parts near to the Pleiades or the Hyades, to Aldebaran or Altair, then I was really there, or at an equal remoteness from the life which I had left behind, dwindled and twinkling with as fine a ray to my nearest neighbor, and to be seen only in moonless nights by him. View in context The Architect of Aeons tells of how the Hyades Armada has traveled thousands of light-years to conquer earth and has arrived at last in the 112th century-but the invasion takes a different turn and causes two enemies to join together in an uneasy alliance to create something bigger than either of them could have imagined.

Fallon puts Ialysos through his paces in build-up to Audi Stakes 3[degrees]) (18h) 28 Moon near Messier 23 29 Pluto and Venus near the Moon (04h) 30 New Moon (23h) at perigee (11h) 31 Mercury at eastern elongation (08h, 18[degrees]) Venus stationary (22h) Meteor showers Shower Duration Maximum Puppid-Velids Dec 05-Jan 07 Dec 29 alpha Crucids Jan 06-Jan 28 Jan 19 alpha Centaurids Jan 28-Feb 21 Feb 07 Deep-sky objects Designation Object type and constellation NGC 1232 Galaxy in Eridanus NGC 1261 Globular cluster in Horologium zeta Reticuli Double star in Reticulum Pleiades Open cluster in Taurus NGC 1514 Planetary nebula in Taurus NGC 1535 Planetary nebula in Eridanus Hyades Open cluster in Taurus Crab Nebula Supernova remnant in Taurus The Hyades The

 Hyades Taurus is composed of two main groups of stars; the Pleiades and Hyades.

The face of Taurus is marked by the V-shaped group of stars called the Hyades. The Hyades consist of Theta1 (θ1) Taurus, theta2 (θ2) Taurus, gamma (γ, Prima Hyadum) Taurus, delta (δ Hyadum11 ) Taurus, and epsilon (ε Ain ) Taurus. Some include alpha (α Aldebaran ) which is the largest star in that area and marking the Bull's left eye, but another star, gamma, is called Prima Hyadum , meaning chief star in the Hyades, so technically Aldebaran is not part of the Hyades. The Hyades were the seven daughter of Atlas and Aethra, half sisters of the Pleiades , with whom they were entrusted by Jupiter with the care of the infant Bacchus/Dionysus. They were placed among the stars as a reward for their sisterly love, which was evinced by their sorrow at the death of their brother Hyas who was drowned in a well, or, in another version of the myth, he was killed by a wild beast in Libya.

The Roman poet Ovid (43BC.-17AD) records that the sisters were grief-stricken and their tears fall on us as rain. "For Hyas his mother wept, and for Hyas his sad sisters, and Atlas , soon to bow his neck to the burden of the pole, yet the love of the sisters exceeded that of both parents: it won for them a place in the sky, but Hyas gave them their name." (Ovid, Fasti 5.170). The History of the Hyades from p.383 of Star Names , Richard Hinckley Allen, 1889. [A scanned copy can be viewed on this webpage ] The Hyades marked by the sailor. — Potter's translation of Euripides' ... As when the seaman sees the Hyades Gather an army of Cimmerian clouds, Auster and Aquilon with winged steeds. — Christopher Marlowe's History of Doctor Faustus. The Hyades lie 10° southeast of the Pleiades , Whitening all the Bull's broad forehead, forming one of the most beautiful objects in the sky, and have been famous for ages, especially with the classical authors.

{Page 387 } Mythologically they were daughters of Atlas and Aethra, and hence half-sisters of the Pleiades , with whom they made up the fourteen Atlantides; or the Dodonides, the nymphs of Dodona, to whom Jupiter entrusted the nurture of the infant Bacchus, and raised them to the sky when driven into the sea by Lycurgus. Similarly they were said to be the Nysiades, the nymphs of Nysa, and teachers of Bacchus in India. Anciently supposed to be seven in number, we moderns count but six, and Hesiod named only five, — Kleea, Eudora, Koronis, Phaeo, and Phaesula; but Pherecydes gave a complete list of them, although one of his names has been lost, and the rest, preserved by Hyginus, vary from those given by Hesiod, and doubtless are somewhat corrupted in form. These were Aesula or Pedile, Ambrosia, Dione, Thyene or Thyone, Eudora, Koronis, and Polyxo or Phyto.

Pherecydes probably took in beta and zeta, at the tips of the horns, omitting some of the fainter stars now included in the group; Thales, however, is said to have acknowledged but two, — alpha and epsilon in the eyes, — "one in the Northern Hemisphere, and the other in the South"; Hipparchos and Ptolemy named only alpha and gamma as Uadon; Euripides, in the Phaethon, counted three; and Achaeus, four. Ovid used Thyone for the whole, but none of the sisters' names have been applied to the individual stars as in the case of the Pleiades . They are among the few stellar objects mentioned by Homer, — and by him, Hesiod, Manilius, Pliny, and doubtless others, given separately from Taurus . Pliny called them Parilicium, from their lucida, Aldebaran .

The Greeks knew them as Uades, which became "Hyades" with the cultured Latins, supposed by some to be from uein, "to rain," referring to the, wet period attending their morning and evening setting in the latter parts of May and November; and this is their universal character in the literature of all ages. Thus we have Hyades Graiis ab imbre vocat of Ovid's Fasti; pluviasque Hyadas of the Aeneid and of Ovid again; and pluviae generally, which Manilius expressed in his Sad Companions of the turning Year. While far back of all these, in the She King: The Moon wades through Hyads bright, Foretelling heavier rain. Pliny wrote of them as being "a violent and troublesome star causing stormes and tempests raging both on land and sea"; in later times Edmund Spenser called them the Moist Daughters; Tennyson, in his Ulysses, said: Thro' scudding drifts the rainy Hyades vext the dim sea; {Page 388 } and Owen Meredith has "the watery Hyades" in The Earl's Return.

The queer old Guide into Tongues of John Minsheu, calling them the Seven Stars, — the only instance of this title that I have met for this group, — makes still more intimate their connection with the showers; for at its word Hyades the reader is referred to the word Raine, where we see: Hyades, uades, dictae stellae quaedam in cornibus Tauri; quae ortu occasuq, sus pluvias largosque imbres concitant. And in Doctor Johnson's Dictionary the word is defined as "a watery constellation." Thus they have always been considered most noteworthy by husbandmen, mariners, and all who were dependent upon the weather, even to the last two or three centuries. Ovid called them Sidus Hyantis, after their earthly brother, Hyas, whose name, after all, would seem to be the most natural derivation of the title; and it was their grief at his death which gave additional point to Horace's tristes Hyadas, and, in one version of their story, induced Jove to put them in the sky.

But their colloquial title among the Roman country-people was Suculae, the Little Pigs, as if from Sus, Sow, the Greek Us, Homer's Sus, which indeed might as well be the derivation of Greek Uades; as uein. This name constantly occurs in astronomical literature from the time of Columella and Pliny to Kepler, Hevelius, and Flamsteed; Pliny accounting for it by the fact that the continual rains of the season of their setting made the roads so miry that these stars seemed to delight in dirt, like swine. And this idea, trivial though it seems, was sufficiently prevalent for Cicero, a century before Pliny, to think worthy of contradiction in his De Natura Deorum. Smyth said that the title might come from the resemblance of the group to a pig's jaws; or because Aldebaran and its companion stars were like a sow with her litter. Peck suggests, in his Dictionary of Classical Literature and Antiquities, that Suculae was the oldest Roman name, given before the Greek appellation was known, and to be compared with our popular stellar titles such as the Dipper, Charles' Wain (in Ursa Major ), etc.

Isidorus traced it to sucus, "moisture," a pleasanter derivation, and possibly more correct, than that held in ancient Italy. This will account for Bayer's Succidae. Bassus and others knew the group as (Greek) u-psilon, the symbol with Pythagoras for human life; and the Roman V, as it resembles those letters, — alpha and epsilon being the extremes, gamma at the vertex. But Ulug Beg's translator wrote: "Quinque stellae quae sunt in facie, in forma lambdae Graecorum et forma rov Dal." In the Alfonsine Tables we find Lampadas, the accusative plural of Lampada, a Torch. {Page 389 } Occasional Arabic titles were Al Mijdah, a Triangular Spoon, and Al Kilas, the Little She Camels, referring to the smaller stars in distinction from Aldebaran , the Large Camel; Al Ferghani wrote the word Kala’is.

These Little Camels appeared in one Arabic story as driven before the personified Aldebaran , in evidence of his riches, when he went again to woo Al Thurayya, the Pleiades , who previously had spurned him on account of his poverty. Another author made the word Al Kallas, the Boiling Sea, so continuing in Arabia the Greek and Roman ideas of its stormy and watery character. Generally, however, in that country, the Hyades were Al Dabaran, which was adopted in the 1515 Almagest, as well as in the Alfonsine Tables of 1521, where we read sunt stellae aldebaran, specially referring to the star gamma "of those in the face." The Arabic title, therefore, was identical with that of the 2nd manzil (Arabic Moon Mansion), which these stars constituted, as they also did the 2nd nakshatra (Hindu Moon Mansion), Rohini, Aldebaran marking the junction with the adjacent Mrigacirsha.

The Hindus figured this asterism as a Temple, or Wagon; and there are many astrological allusions to it in the Siddhantas, the collective term for the various standard astronomical books of that people. The Chinese utilized it for their 2nd sieu (Chinese Moon Mansion), Pi, or Peih, anciently Pal, a Hand-net, or a Rabbit-net, but included lambda and sigma; although some limited this station to epsilon, the farthest to the north. The She King thus described it: Long and curved is the Rabbit Net of the sky; but with that people generally it was the Star of the Hunter, and, with the astrologers, the Drought Car. This title, however, was inappropriate, for the Hyades seem to have been as closely identified with rain in China as in Greece or Rome, — indeed were worshiped as Yu Shi, the General, or Ruler, of Rain, from at least 1100 B.C. Still this character was not native, but must have been derived from western Asia, where the early rains coincided with the heliacal rising of these stars, which was not the case in China by nearly two months.

The adjacent small stars, with xi, were Tien Lin, the Celestial Public Granary; and the whole group was known as the Announcer of Invasion on the Border. The Hyades have been identified with the scriptural Mazzaroth, but there is little foundation for this; even less than for their identification, by Saint Jerome and by Riccioli, with the Kimah of the Book of Job, ix, 9. Anglo-Saxon titles are Raedgastran, Raedgasnan, and Redgaesrum, whatever these may mean; and the Boar-Throng which that people saw in the sky may have been this group rather than Orion as generally is supposed. It is thought that the Hyades have a united proper motion towards the {Page 390} west. They are rich in doubles and full of interest to the owners of even small glasses. [ Star Names : Their Lore and Meaning, Richard H. Allen, 1889.]

Question: The Pleiades and Hyades star clusters are in which constellation?
Answer: Taurus