Ephemeris: 11/05/2026 – Why is the Pleiades called the Seven Sisters when only 6 stars can be seen?
This is Ephemeris for Thursday, November 5th. Today the Sun will be up for 9 hours and 59 minutes, setting at 5:25, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:27. The Moon, half way from last quarter to new, will rise at 4:42 tomorrow morning.
Many cultures around the world have looked at the Pleiades star cluster that’s off in the eastern sky these autumn nights as having seven stars and many as seven sisters or 7 maidens. However, the most people can see with their naked eye is 6 stars. There’s several theories about this. There are 9 named stars in the Pleiades the seven sisters themselves plus Atlas and Pleione the parents. Atlas and Pleione are the one or two stars seen at bottom as one looks at the Pleiades in the autumn sky, the end of the handle the tiny dipper. Normally only one can be seen. That’s Atlas. Pleione is a little bit off to the left of Atlas. It is thought that Pleione was farther away from Atlas in the distant past, or possibly brighter so it could be seen as a separate star.
The astronomical event times given in this blog are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (Lat 44.7° N, Long 85.7° W; EST, UT – 5 hours) unless stated otherwise. Times will be different for other locations.
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