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Ephemeris: 10/28/2024 – The Pleiades or Seven Sisters and their half sisters

October 28, 2024 Comments off

This is Ephemeris for Monday, October 28th. Today the Sun will be up for 10 hours and 20 minutes, setting at 6:36, and it will rise tomorrow at 8:17. The Moon, halfway from last quarter to new, will rise at 5:22 tomorrow morning.

The beautiful star cluster of the Pleiades is seen low in the east northeastern sky after 9:00 PM. It is also known as the Seven Sisters. It has been known as a group of female stars in many cultures. Also, the Ancient Greeks, because they thought that the Pleiades shape looked something like a sail, Also, Pleiades is very close to the Greek name for sail, and that its appearance in the morning sky in early summer heralded the beginning of the summer sailing season on the Mediterranean Sea. According to Greek mythology the Pleiades have half sisters, also seven in number, with the same father, Atlas, but a different mother, called the Hyades which rises about an hour later, and fills out the face of Taurus the bull.

The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EDT, UT – 4 hours). Times will be different for other locations.

Addendum

Two star clusters, the Pleiades and the Hyades in Taurus
The two star clusters the Pleiades and the Hyades, in Taurus, seen here as they would appear in the east-northeast rising in the evening. More stars are shown here than would be visible to the naked eye or in binoculars. The letter V shape of the Hyades is much more pronounced to the naked eye than it is in this photograph. The blue glow around the Pleiades is a reflection nebula because the stars are inside a cloud of dust. Other dusty areas can be seen in the photograph between these two clusters as a slight mottling of the background blackness of the sky. The bright star at the bottom of the ellipse circling the Hyades is the first magnitude star Aldebaran. It is actually not part of the physical star cluster called the Hyades, being about half the distance to it. Based on a photograph by the author.
Categories: Ephemeris Program, Observing, Star Clusters Tags: , ,