What causes the blue haze around the stars?

A dust cloud reflecting starlight

Pleiades Quiz: The Seven Sisters Star Cluster

Japanese drivers see this cluster every day on a car badge, and this Pleiades quiz explains the stars behind the logo. Play 10 interactive questions on Messier 45, the constellation Taurus, the 444 light-year distance, the Seven Sisters myth, Subaru, Matariki, blue reflection nebulosity, the cluster's age, the Nebra sky disc and Galileo's telescope view.

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🎯 Daily Trivia Challenge • 🧠 10 Questions • ⏱️ 150 Seconds

Question 1 / 10 Time: 150s

Catalog
What is the Pleiades' Messier number?
Constellation
In which constellation is the Pleiades?
Nickname
What is its popular name?
Parents
Who were the sisters' parents in Greek myth?
Japan
What is the Japanese name of the Pleiades?
Maori
What is the Maori name, linked to a new-year festival?
Nebula
What causes the blue haze around the stars?
Age
Roughly how old is the cluster?
Distance
Roughly how far away is it?
Disc
Which Bronze Age object may show the Pleiades?

Explanations: answer key for all 10 questions

Q1: What is the Pleiades' Messier number?
Answer: M45
Charles Messier cataloged it.
Q2: In which constellation is the Pleiades?
Answer: Taurus
It sits on the bull's shoulder.
Q3: What is its popular name?
Answer: The Seven Sisters
Greek myth names the sisters.
Q4: Who were the sisters' parents in Greek myth?
Answer: Atlas and Pleione
Two stars bear their names.
Q5: What is the Japanese name of the Pleiades?
Answer: Subaru
The car brand's logo shows six stars.
Q6: What is the Maori name, linked to a new-year festival?
Answer: Matariki
New Zealand made it a public holiday.
Q7: What causes the blue haze around the stars?
Answer: A dust cloud reflecting starlight
The cluster is passing through it.
Q8: Roughly how old is the cluster?
Answer: About 100 million years
It is young for a star cluster.
Q9: Roughly how far away is it?
Answer: About 444 light-years
Measurements once disagreed.
Q10: Which Bronze Age object may show the Pleiades?
Answer: The Nebra sky disc
It was found in Germany.

Pleiades Quiz – The Seven Sisters Star Cluster

The Pleiades, also called the Seven Sisters or Messier 45, is an open star cluster in the constellation Taurus, about 444 light-years away. Most people see six stars with the naked eye, though the cluster has around 1,000 members.

In Greek myth the sisters are daughters of Atlas and Pleione. In Japan the cluster is Subaru, shown on the car brand's logo, and in New Zealand its Maori name, Matariki, marks a new-year festival and public holiday.

The cluster is about 100 million years old. Its blue haze comes from a dust cloud it is passing through, not from its birth. The Nebra sky disc, about 3,600 years old, may depict it, and Galileo counted dozens of stars there with his telescope.

What This Quiz Teaches

Stargazers will enjoy these questions.

Where the Pleiades is
What it is called
Which myths surround it
Why it looks hazy
How old it is

Did You Know?

Hot blue stars dominate the cluster.
It is best seen in autumn and winter evenings in the north.
Many cultures tell stories of seven sisters.
Hubble helped refine its distance.
The cluster will drift apart over time.