Alcyone is the brightest star of the Pleiades, a hot blue-white giant at the heart of the cluster the world knows as the Seven Sisters.
At a glance
| type | blue-white star (class B) |
|---|---|
| distance from the Sun | 444 light-years (136 pc) |
| its light left it | 444 years ago |
| luminosity | 2,400 × the Sun |
| radius | 9.3 × the Sun |
| surface temperature | 12,800 K |
Read off the piece’s own catalogue, the same values it draws with.
About Alcyone
The Pleiades are a young open cluster in Taurus, stars that formed together and still travel together. Their brightest members are hot blue-white B-type stars, and Alcyone outshines them all. It is a giant, already swelling as it ages, and it has several fainter companions close by.
In Greek myth the Pleiades were the daughters of the Titan Atlas and the sea nymph Pleione. Alcyone was loved by Poseidon. The brightest stars of the cluster carry the names of the sisters and their parents.
The cluster is young enough that its stars are still hot and blue; the faint blue haze seen in long exposures is a passing cloud of dust lit by them, not the remains of the cloud they were born from.
What you see in the piece
Fly into the Pleiades and Alcyone is the brightest of the blue-white stars, with the others scattered around it at nearly the same distance; unlike a constellation, the cluster holds together when you approach.
Questions
What is the brightest star in the Pleiades?
Alcyone. It is a blue-white giant that shines about 2,400 × the Sun.
How far away are the Pleiades?
Alcyone is 444 light-years (136 pc) from the Sun, and the other bright members lie at almost the same distance.