2026年2月23日
Pleiades: The Seven Sisters Star Cluster
Image Credit & Copyright: Kamil Fiedosiuk
Explanation: Have you ever seen the Pleiades star cluster? Even if you have, you probably have never seen it as large and clear as this. Perhaps the most famous star cluster on the sky, the bright stars of the Pleiades can be seen with the unaided eye even from the depths of a light-polluted city. With a long exposure from a dark location, though, the dust cloud surrounding the Pleiades star cluster becomes very evident. The featured 18-hour exposure, taken from Bory Tucholskie, Poland covers a sky area several times the size of the full moon. Also known as the Seven Sisters and M45, the Pleiades lies about 400 light years away toward the constellation of the Bull (Taurus). A common legend with a modern twist is that one of the brighter stars faded since the cluster was named, leaving only six of the sister stars visible to the unaided eye. The actual number of Pleiades stars visible, however, may be more or less than seven, depending on the darkness of the surrounding sky and the clarity of the observer’s eyesight.
Sky Surprise: What picture did APOD feature on your birthday? (after 1995)
Tomorrow’s picture: opera planets
昴宿星团: 七姊妹星团
影像提供与版权: Kamil Fiedosiuk
说明: 你曾经看过昴宿星团吗？即使看过，你可能也从未见过像这样庞大又清晰的影像。昴宿星团或许是天球上最著名的疏散星团，即使置身于深受光害影响的城市，昴宿星团中的明亮恒星仍可用肉眼看见。然而，从黑暗的地点进行长时间曝光，环绕昴宿星团这一疏散星团的尘埃云就会变得非常清晰可见。这幅累积18小时曝光的作品拍摄于波兰的图霍拉森林（Bory Tucholskie），视场覆盖的天区面积达到满月的数倍。昴宿星团又被称为七姊妹，编号为M45，昴宿星团位于金牛座（Taurus）方向，距离地球约400光年。有一则广为流传的传说，配上现代诠释，认为自从昴宿星团得名以来，其中一颗较亮的星已经黯淡下来，因此只有六颗姐妹星可以用肉眼看到。然而，实际肉眼能分辨的昴宿星团成员数目可能多于或少于七颗，这取决于周遭天空的黑暗程度和观测者的视力。
天空惊喜: 你生日那天APOD刊登的是哪张照片？（1995年后）
明日的图片: opera planets
