Electra is one of the brightest stars of the Pleiades, a blue-white giant named for one of the Seven Sisters of Greek myth, mother of Dardanus.
At a glance
| type | blue-white star (class B) |
|---|---|
| distance from the Sun | 440 light-years (135 pc) |
| its light left it | 440 years ago |
| luminosity | 1,230 × the Sun |
| radius | 6 × the Sun |
| surface temperature | 13,400 K |
Read off the piece’s own catalogue, the same values it draws with.
About Electra
Electra is a hot blue-white B-type giant on the western side of the Pleiades. It is among the cluster’s leading stars, outshone only by Alcyone and Atlas.
In myth Electra was the mother of Dardanus, founder of the line of Troy. Some tellings make her the “lost Pleiad”, the sister who hid her face in grief at the fall of the city, which is one of the stories told to explain why most people count fewer than seven stars in the cluster.
Electra lies near the dust that the cluster is passing through, and its light helps illuminate the faint blue reflection nebula seen around the Pleiades in long exposures.
What you see in the piece
In the Pleiades Electra is one of the bright blue-white stars; the haze around the cluster in photographs is dust reflecting their light.
Questions
Who was Electra in the Pleiades?
Electra was one of the Seven Sisters of Greek myth, mother of Dardanus of Troy, and sometimes named as the lost Pleiad.
How bright is Electra?
It shines about 1,230 × the Sun, with a surface near 13,400 K.