The Pleades

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.