This was taken January 3 and consists of 120 x 75 second exposures (~2.5 hours). Messier 45 (M45), also known as the Pleiades or Seven Sisters, is a bright open star cluster located in the constellation Taurus, the Bull. It is the easiest object of its kind to see without binoculars - or after cataract surgery ??The Pleiades is 444 light years from Earth. It contains a number of hot, blue (hence the color), extremely luminous B-type stars and is one of the nearest star clusters to Earth. M45 has a core radius of 8 light years and its tidal radius extends to about 43 light years. The cluster is home to more than 1,000 confirmed members, but only a handful of these stars are visible to the naked eye. The total mass of M45 is estimated at about 800 solar masses.
The best time of year to observe M45 is during the winter months, when Taurus constellation rises high in the sky. Find the 3 stars in Orion's belt, then take a slow arc to the west and you will see a 'fuzzy' patch in the sky - that is it!