The Seven Sisters (Pleiades) Pose for Spitzer and for You!

Spitzer_ssc2007-07b1_1024

spitzer_ssc2007-07b1 April 12th, 2007

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/J. Stauffer (SSC-Caltech)

The Seven Sisters, also known as the Pleiades, seem to float on a bed of feathers in a new infrared image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. Clouds of dust sweep around the stars, swaddling them in a cushiony veil.

The Pleiades, located more than 400 light-years away in the Taurus constellation, are the subject of many legends and writings. Greek mythology holds that the flock of stars was transformed into celestial doves by Zeus to save them from a pursuant Orion. The 19th-century poet Alfred Lord Tennyson described them as "glittering like a swarm of fireflies tangled in a silver braid."

The star cluster was born when dinosaurs still roamed the Earth, about one hundred million years ago. It is significantly younger than our 5-billion-year-old sun. The brightest members of the cluster, also the highest-mass stars, are known in Greek mythology as two parents, Atlas and Pleione, and their seven daughters, Alcyone, Electra, Maia, Merope, Taygeta, Celaeno and Asterope. There are thousands of additional lower-mass members, including many stars like our sun. Some scientists believe that our sun grew up in a crowded region like the Pleiades, before migrating to its present, more isolated home.

The new infrared image from Spitzer highlights the "tangled silver braid" mentioned in the poem by Tennyson. This spider-web like network of filaments, colored yellow, green and red in this view, is made up of dust associated with the cloud through which the cluster is traveling. The densest portion of the cloud appears in yellow and red, and the more diffuse outskirts appear in green hues. One of the parent stars, Atlas, can be seen at the bottom, while six of the sisters are visible at top.

The Spitzer data also reveals never-before-seen brown dwarfs, or "failed stars," and disks of planetary debris (not pictured). John Stauffer of NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope says Spitzer's infrared vision allows astronomers to better study the cooler, lower-mass stars in the region

Provider: Spitzer Space Telescope

Image Source: http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/images/1768-ssc2007-07b1-An-Infrared-Pleiades-Portrait

Curator: Spitzer Space Telescope, Pasadena, CA, USA

Image Use Policy: Public Domain

Image Details

Image Type
Observation
Object Name
Pleiades Seven Sisters M45 Messier 45
Subject - Milky Way
Star > Grouping > Cluster > Open
Nebula > Appearance > Reflection

Distance

Universescale1
430 light years
Spitzer_ssc2007-07b1_128
 

Position Details

Position (ICRS)
RA = 3h 46m 57.1s
DEC = 24° 10’ 14.1”
Orientation
North is 101.8° CCW
Field of View
58.1 x 58.1 arcminutes
Constellation
Taurus

Color Mapping

  Telescope Spectral Band Wavelength
Blue Spitzer (IRAC) Infrared (Near-IR) 3.6 µm
Green Spitzer (IRAC) Infrared (Near-IR) 4.5 µm
Orange Spitzer (IRAC) Infrared (Mid-IR) 5.8 µm
Red Spitzer (IRAC) Infrared (Mid-IR) 8.0 µm
Spectrum_base
Blue
Green
Orange
Red
Spitzer_ssc2007-07b1_1280
×
ID
ssc2007-07b1
Subject Category
B.3.6.4.1   B.4.2.2  
Subject Name
Pleiades, Seven Sisters, M45, Messier 45
Credits
NASA/JPL-Caltech/J. Stauffer (SSC-Caltech)
Release Date
2007-04-12
Lightyears
430
Redshift
430
Reference Url
http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/images/1768-ssc2007-07b1-An-Infrared-Pleiades-Portrait
Type
Observation
Image Quality
Good
Distance Notes
Distance from fast facts
Facility
Spitzer, Spitzer, Spitzer, Spitzer
Instrument
IRAC, IRAC, IRAC, IRAC
Color Assignment
Blue, Green, Orange, Red
Band
Infrared, Infrared, Infrared, Infrared
Bandpass
Near-IR, Near-IR, Mid-IR, Mid-IR
Central Wavelength
3600, 4500, 5800, 8000
Start Time
Integration Time
Dataset ID
Notes
Coordinate Frame
ICRS
Equinox
J2000
Reference Value
56.738111727655863, 24.17058048200041
Reference Dimension
2855, 2855
Reference Pixel
1427.5, 1427.5
Scale
-0.00033899253746293086, 0.00033899253746293086
Rotation
101.756865555
Coordinate System Projection:
TAN
Quality
Full
FITS Header
Notes
Creator (Curator)
Spitzer Space Telescope
URL
http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu
Name
Spitzer Space Telescope
Email
Telephone
Address
1200 E. California Blvd.
City
Pasadena
State/Province
CA
Postal Code
91125
Country
USA
Rights
Public Domain
Publisher
Spitzer Science Center
Publisher ID
spitzer
Resource ID
ssc2007-07b1.tif
Metadata Date
2011-09-06
Metadata Version
1.1
×

 

Detailed color mapping information coming soon...

×
Universescalefull
430 light years

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