Asterope is the faintest of the named Pleiades, a blue-white star that forms a close-looking pair on the sky and is hard to see without help.
At a glance
| type | blue-white star (class B) |
|---|---|
| distance from the Sun | 448 light-years (137 pc) |
| its light left it | 448 years ago |
| luminosity | 120 × the Sun |
| radius | 2.4 × the Sun |
| surface temperature | 11,000 K |
Read off the piece’s own catalogue, the same values it draws with.
About Asterope
Asterope, also called Sterope, is the faintest of the stars named for the sisters. On the sky it is a pair of points close together, often listed as Asterope I and II, and the naked eye at best merges them into a single faint smudge.
It is a B-type star, hot and blue-white like the rest of the cluster, but smaller and less luminous than the leading members.
In myth Asterope was the mother of Oenomaus, king of Pisa, by Ares.
What you see in the piece
In the Pleiades Asterope is a faint blue-white point among the brighter sisters; from Earth (HUMAN EYE) it is close to invisible.
Questions
Why is Asterope hard to see?
It is the faintest of the named Pleiades and close to the limit of the naked eye, so most people need binoculars to see it.
How hot is Asterope?
Its surface is about 11,000 K, which makes it blue-white.