The Pleiades, M45, is one of the nearest open star clusters. It appears high overhead in the constellation Taurus on winter evenings in the northern hemisphere. Light from the cluster's hot blue stars reflects off of the surrounding interstellar dust cloud and shines as a blue reflection nebula. M45 is about 135 light-years from Earth.

130 minutes L and 120 minutes RGB (binned 2x2) on 2013-02-06 using a QSI 583 from northern New Jersey through an Astro-Physics 105mm (4.1 inch) refractor at f6. North is up. ©2013