| M 45 Pleiades Open Cluster The Pleiades is a well known naked eye Open Star Cluster in the constellation of Taurus (The Bull). Pleiades is a young open cluster of stars enshrouded in gas and dust which is illuminated by several bright stars. Also know as the Seven Sisters covering an area of 2° and lying a mere 415 light years away. In fact through binoculars you can see nine prominent stars, two of which are the parents of the seven sisters. The stars are of varying brightness and distances from Earth. They vary from Magnitude 2.9 Alcyone 240 ly to Celaeno magnitude 5.5 and 590 ly distant. |
| Telescope / Lens | 300mm f/2.8 Camera Lens; 300 & 420mm f/4 |
| Mount Type | Piggyback on G11 (Stepper) |
| Camera | Canon F-1 with Bright Screen & Angle B magnifier |
| Filters | 112mm UV |
| Film | Kodak E200 (Slide Film) |
| Exposure | 25 minutes, 45 minutes, 45 minuets; manual guiding FS/78 |
| Processing | Slides scanned Nikon 5000 @ 4000dpi 16bit (130 MB files) 3 images stacked; processed in Photoshop CS2 AIP & CCDStack |
| Date | 8-16-2001, 7/25/2003 & 8/20/2004 |
| Location | Oregon Star Party
120° 09' W 44° 18' N Indian Trail Springs, Ochoco National Forest (Also Eagles Rest 25 miles SE of Dexter, Or.) |
| Conditions | 5000' magnitude 6.2 Skies; Clear & Steady |