Maia is a bright blue-white star of the Pleiades, named for the eldest of the Seven Sisters, and lights the faint Maia Nebula around it.
At a glance
| type | blue-white star (class B) |
|---|---|
| distance from the Sun | 446 light-years (137 pc) |
| its light left it | 446 years ago |
| luminosity | 660 × the Sun |
| radius | 5.5 × the Sun |
| surface temperature | 12,600 K |
Read off the piece’s own catalogue, the same values it draws with.
About Maia
Maia is a hot B-type star near the centre of the Pleiades. Dust drifting through the cluster lies close to it, and its light makes part of that dust glow blue as the Maia Nebula, one of the brightest patches of the cluster’s reflection nebula.
Maia’s spectrum is chemically peculiar, showing unusual amounts of some heavy elements such as mercury and manganese at its surface, a sign of slow sorting of elements in a calm atmosphere.
In myth Maia was the eldest of the sisters and, by Zeus, the mother of Hermes.
What you see in the piece
In the Pleiades Maia is among the bright central stars; the blue glow near it in photographs is dust reflecting its light, which the piece shows only where it is bright enough to see.
Questions
Who was Maia in Greek mythology?
Maia was the eldest of the Pleiades, the daughters of Atlas and Pleione, and the mother of Hermes by Zeus.
How far away is Maia?
Maia is 446 light-years (137 pc) from the Sun.