{"id":52938,"date":"2023-12-16T08:16:00","date_gmt":"2023-12-16T08:16:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/c5518c0f-a149-48a8-977f-e6888c6d69fd"},"modified":"2023-12-19T10:32:32","modified_gmt":"2023-12-19T10:32:32","slug":"photograph-the-pleiades-blue-glow-and-stars","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/rss_feed\/photograph-the-pleiades-blue-glow-and-stars\/","title":{"rendered":"Photograph the Pleiades blue glow and stars"},"content":{"rendered":"

How to capture the most famous open star cluster with a DSLR camera. <\/p>

By Pete Lawrence\n <\/p>

Published: Saturday, 16 December 2023 at 08:16 AM<\/p>

\n\n

The Pleiades or Seven Sisters, also known as M45, is one of the most iconic open star clusters<\/a> in the night sky and a great target to photograph.<\/p>

You can find the Pleiades<\/a> sitting northwest of Orion\u2019s Belt<\/a> (up and right as seen from the UK), and it will appear as a bright smudge to the naked eye.<\/p>

Photograph the Pleiades, however, and you’ve got a chance to capture its beautiful blue glow.<\/p>

Consider the Pleiades’ appearance<\/strong><\/h2>
Diagram showing the stars of the Pleiades star cluster. Credit: Pete Lawrence<\/figcaption><\/figure>

The Pleiades are around 444 lightyears distant or approximately three times further away than the more spread-out form of the V-shaped Hyades open cluster<\/a>.<\/p>

The relative compactness of the Pleiades is a result of it being both a young cluster and further away than the Hyades.<\/p>

Being a young cluster, the Pleiades are hot, blue stars, another factor which aids their visibility.\u00a0<\/p>

The main pattern appears like a box with a handle.<\/p>

The stars forming this pattern are all named, the brightest also carrying the Bayer designation Eta (\u03b7) Tauri.<\/p>

\"The
The Pleiades, the Hyades and Jupiter. Credit: Pete Lawrence<\/figcaption><\/figure>

Photograph the Pleiades: equipment and settings<\/strong><\/h2>

For a photograph of the Pleiades to look \u2018natural\u2019, you should include the entire box-handle pattern plus plenty of space around the cluster so it doesn\u2019t feel cramped.\u00a0<\/p>

If you intend to use a wide-angle lens, or even a smartphone camera, it\u2019s surprising just how identifiably resilient the cluster shape can appear at low image scale.<\/p>

Low image scale allows you to be a little less precise with tracking, exposures up to 30 seconds showing no discernible star trailing below 16mm focal length<\/a>.<\/p>

A longer focal length will allow you to capture the cluster closer up, with more visual impact.<\/p>

But a greater image scale will demand more accuracy from your tracking mount. \u00a0<\/p>

Capturing the Pleiades\u2019 main stars isn\u2019t too difficult because they are fairly bright.<\/p>

Longer exposures will allow you to \u2018drill down\u2019 into the cluster, revealing more of the fainter members (the Pleiades contains in excess of 1,000 stars).<\/p>

\"M45,
M45, the Pleiades by Ronald Brecher, Guelph, Ontario, Canada, 6 December 2020-9 February 2021 Equipment: QHY 367C Pro colour CMOS camera, Takahashi FSQ-106EDX4 quadruplet refractor, Paramount MX mount<\/figcaption><\/figure>

Capturing the nebula<\/strong><\/h2>

As the Pleiades’ fainter stars appear, it becomes clear that there\u2019s something else visible too: a beautiful blue nebula<\/a>.<\/p>

This is a reflection nebula, a type that typically consists of microscopic zinc and iron compound grains together with grains of carbon (diamond dust).<\/p>

Very effective at scattering blue starlight, it\u2019s most evident around the star Merope, the bright patch of nebulosity visible here being known unsurprisingly as the Merope Nebula, NGC 1435.<\/p>

However, there\u2019s much more that can be brought out using long-exposure astrophotography<\/a>.<\/p>

For a long time it was thought that the swirling nebula surrounding the Pleiades was residual material left over after the cluster formed.<\/p>

However, detailed analysis of the nebula reveals that it has a different proper motion to the cluster stars.<\/p>

The cluster is moving through a cloud of material, which has resulted in the nebula we see today.<\/p>

It\u2019s also now known that it\u2019s not a single cloud, but two, each moving in independent directions.\u00a0<\/p>

Our step-by-step guide below looks at how to take a single shot photograph of the Pleiades.<\/p>

Once you\u2019ve mastered this, use deep-sky imaging processes<\/a> like frame calibration and stacking<\/a> of multiple frames to create a better result.<\/p>

\"The
The Pleiades by Kees Scherer, Castelo Novo, Tomar, Portugal, 5\u201310 October 2018. Equipment: QHY16200 camera, Sky-Watcher Espirit-100ED f\/5.5 Super APO triplet refractor, 10 Micron GM 2000 HPS mount, ScopeDome 2M.<\/figcaption><\/figure>

Equipment<\/strong><\/h2>