Celaeno is one of the fainter named stars of the Pleiades, a blue-white star near the limit of what the naked eye can pick out within the cluster.
At a glance
| type | blue-white star (class B) |
|---|---|
| distance from the Sun | 443 light-years (136 pc) |
| its light left it | 443 years ago |
| luminosity | 240 × the Sun |
| radius | 4.4 × the Sun |
| surface temperature | 12,300 K |
Read off the piece’s own catalogue, the same values it draws with.
About Celaeno
Celaeno is a B-type star on the western side of the Pleiades, near Electra. It is too faint for most people to see as a separate star without optical aid, and it is usually one of the sisters missing from a naked-eye count.
It is a hot, young star like the others, sharing their motion through space: open clusters like the Pleiades are families of stars born together, which slowly drift apart over the life of the Galaxy.
In myth Celaeno was loved by Poseidon, and was one of the daughters of Atlas and Pleione.
What you see in the piece
In the Pleiades Celaeno is a small blue-white star near Electra; from Earth (HUMAN EYE) it sits near the limit of the eye.
Questions
Can you see Celaeno with the naked eye?
Only with good eyes under a dark sky; it is one of the faintest of the named Pleiades.
How bright is Celaeno?
It shines about 240 × the Sun, from 443 light-years (136 pc) away.