BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Brad Klein reviews upcoming astronomical highlights with Bethlehem’s "Backyard Astronomy Guy," Marty McGuire.
The Pleiades is a prominent winter asterism, or group of stars that form a recognizable pattern in the night sky. But unlike typical constellations, whose stars may be light years from each other, the Pleiades is a "star cluster," a group of celestial objects bound together by gravity.
It can be hard to see in an area with a great deal of light pollution. But in the dark skies of the new moon, Tuesday and Wednesday nights, the star cluster, sometimes called the Seven Sisters, should be easy to find if skies are clear.
“Look for them in the southeast, high overhead, directly above the Orion constellation after sunset,” McGuire said.
And this cluster of associated stars may look familiar. It’s used as the logo for the car company, Subaru, which displays six of the brightest stars in the cluster. And, in fact, Subaru is the name of these stars in Japanese.
But with binoculars, you’ll be able to detect more than the six stars in the Subaru logo, or the seven suggested by the Seven Sisters nickname. In fact, there are hundreds of objects within the Pleiades. Mostly bright, blue, young stars that have captivated sky-gazers for centuries.