Pleiades (astronomy), loose cluster of 400 to 500 stars, about 415 light-years from the solar system in the direction of the constellation Taurus. The stars are about 1 light-year apart, on the average, and photographs show them to be surrounded by a nebulosity that shines by their reflected light. The cluster was named by the ancient Greeks after the “Seven Sisters” of mythology. Observers have claimed to be able to see with the naked eye as many as 12 of the stars in the cluster.
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