The Pleades

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This star cluster is 12 light-years in diameter and contains about 500 stars. The cluster is 440 light-years away and consists of young hot blue stars formed in the last 100 million years. The gravitationally bound group is passing through a dusty region which reflects the light from the stars. In mythology the Pleiades were seven sisters, the daughters of Atlas and Pleione. The Japanese name for the cluster is Subaru.

35 min. exposure, Canon 10D, ISO 800, 101mm refractor @f/5.4
Potawatomi Wildlife Park, Marshall County, Indiana