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Open star cluster · Taurus

Pleiades

M45 · Seven Sisters · Subaru
Above the horizon after darkHighest after dark 03:48 · south · 63°
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PleiadesN ↑ E ← · 36° FIELD

Where is the Pleiades?

Times for LondonChange city

Look south, about 63° up at 03:48 in Taurus.

Rises
19:28
Highest
03:49
Sets
12:15
Best after dark
03:48 · 63°

Can I see the Pleiades tonight?

From London tonight, the Pleiades is above the horizon after dark. It’s highest after dark at 03:48, in the south at 63°.

At magnitude 1.6, with its light spread over an area of sky, it can be seen by eye from a dark site; light pollution hides it quickly.

This is position and timing only: clouds, haze and light pollution aren’t included.

What does the Pleiades look like?

Eyes

A small, tight group of blue-white stars, like a tiny dipper. Visible from cities, though light pollution hides the fainter members.

Binoculars

The ideal view: dozens of sparkling blue-white stars filling the field.

Telescope

Use the lowest magnification; the cluster is larger than many telescope fields. The blue nebulosity is very hard to see visually and needs dark, clear skies.

What you’re likely to see, not what a space telescope photographs.

About the Pleiades

The Pleiades, or Seven Sisters, is the best-known star cluster in the sky. Most people see six stars by eye; under dark skies, sharp eyes may count seven or more. In Japan it is called Subaru, and the cluster appears in that car brand’s logo.

It is a young cluster of hot blue stars about 440 light-years away and roughly 100 million years old, containing more than a thousand stars in all.

Long-exposure photographs show the stars wrapped in blue haze. This is a cloud of dust the cluster happens to be passing through, reflecting the starlight; it is not the gas the stars formed from.

The Pleiades has a place in the stories and calendars of many cultures, from Greek myth to the Matariki New Year in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Over the next few hundred million years the cluster will slowly drift apart. The Moon sometimes passes in front of the Pleiades, hiding its stars one by one, a beautiful sight in binoculars.

Nearby in the sky

Questions

How many stars are in the Pleiades?
Six or seven by eye, dozens in binoculars, and more than a thousand in total.
Is the Pleiades the Little Dipper?
No, though its shape is a tiny dipper. The real Little Dipper is in Ursa Minor, ending at Polaris.
Why does the Pleiades look blue in photos?
Dust around the cluster reflects the blue light of its hot young stars.
Its constellationTaurusAnother open star clusterDouble ClusterAnother open star clusterBeehive Cluster0° awayAlcyone0° awayMeropeGuideBinoculars or telescope: what to start with

Sources: SkyMate; OpenNGC (CC BY-SA 4.0); star chart: Wikidata (CC0). Positions computed for your place and time with astronomy-engine. Data & Licences