M45 - The Pleiades

The Pleiades, also known as M45 or the Seven Sisters, are a young open star cluster in the constellation Taurus, located about 440 light-years from Earth. The name Seven Sisters refers to the brightest stars of the cluster, easily visible to the naked eye and deeply rooted in mythological traditions. The faint nebulosity surrounding the cluster consists of reflection nebulae made of interstellar dust illuminated by the blue starlight. These dust clouds are not remnants of the cluster’s formation; instead, they become visible as the Pleiades move through a dust-rich region of the interstellar medium, producing the characteristic blue, filamentary structures across the field. Images from the Telescope Network dataset acquired at the remote observatory in Pie Town, New Mexico, USA.