Star Clusters

Star clusters or star clouds are groups of stars. Two types of star clusters can be distinguished: globular clusters are tight groups of hundreds of thousands of very old stars which are gravitationally bound, while open clusters s, more loosely clustered groups of stars, generally contain fewer than a few hundred members, and are often very young. Open clusters become disrupted over time by the gravitational influence of giant molecular clouds as they move through the galaxy, but cluster members will continue to move in broadly the same direction through space even though they are no longer gravitationally bound

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Pleiades Star Cluster - M45

The Pleiades or Seven Sisters (M45), is an open star cluster containing middle-aged hot B-type stars located in the constellation of Taurus. It is among the nearest star clusters to Earth and is the cluster most obvious to the naked eye in the night sky. The name Pleiades comes from Greek mythology.

The cluster is dominated by hot blue and extremely luminous stars that have formed within the last 100 million years. Dust that forms a faint reflection nebulosity around the brightest stars was thought at first to be left over from the formation of the cluster

Telescope: Officina Stellare Veloce RH200
Mount: Astrophysics Mach1 GTO
Guiding: TS-OAG9 / Lodestar
Camera: ATIK 383L+ Mono
Filters: Baader LRGB
Total Exposure: 4 h
Subexposures: LRGB (5min)
Location: Alissos Akhaia, Greece

double cluster perseus

celestialpixels

Star Clusters