From the November 2004 issue

Seven Sisters gallery

See these great images of the Pleiades.
By | Published: November 22, 2004 | Last updated on May 18, 2023
M45 star chart
Roen Kelly
The star cluster known as the Pleiades, or the Seven Sisters — number 45 on Charles Messier’s list of non-cometary objects — has been a popular target for astrophotographers for many years. About 2,500 years ago, the Pleiades was considered a separate constellation. Today, it lies within the boundaries of Taurus the Bull.

Roen Kelly
(M45) The Pleiades
W. Milton Gosney
Milton Gosney imaged M45 from Lucas, Texas on September 29, 2003.

Equipment used: Canon EOS 10D digital camera, 28mm lens for a 10-second exposure.

Milton Grosney
M45 (The Pleiades)
Michael Hanson
Michael Hanson imaged the Pleiades on October 6, 2003.

Equipment used: Takahashi FSQ-106 at f/5, piggybacked on a 12-inch Meade LX200, Canon 10D digital camera, for a composite of ten 3-minute exposures.

Michael Hanson
M45 (The Pleiades
Benny Negy, Jr.
Equipment used: 8-inch Schmidt Camera at f/1.5, for a 9-minute exposure.

Benny Negy, Jr.
M45 (The Pleiades)
Jason Ware
Equipment used: 6-inch Meade 152 ED refractor at f/9, for a combination of two 60-minute exposures.

Jason Ware
M45 (The Pleiades)
Jean-Denis Douvier
Jean-Denis Douvier imaged the Pleiades from Doughton Park in North Carolina.

Equipment used: 8-inch Orion Sky View Pro telescope at f/4, Canon Rebel digital camera, guided by hand with a second guiding scope for a 7 stacked images.

Jean-Denis Douvier
M45 (The Pleiades)
Chris Schur
Equipment used: 8-inch Schmidt Camera at f/1.5, for four 5-minute exposures.

Chris Schur
The Pleiades
The Pleiades image captured by the Big Sky Astronomical Society.
CFHT / Big Sky Astronomical Society
Members of the Big Sky Astronomical Society from Alberta, Canada, were able to image M45 using the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT). The group won the opportunity to use the wide-field telescope in a contest sponsored by the National Research Council of Canada’s Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics.