The Omnifarium - Sudoku/45.html

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Sudoku #45

Category: Sudoku
Mon, 08 Aug 2005, 11:16

I don't look at the night sky often because of the light pollution here. But one evening this past winter I went outside with our binoculars looking for the comet that was visible to the north. It wasn't easy, but I eventually found it. Afterwards, I turned the binoculars to a couple of other easier to find things, such as Orion's belt and sword, and the spectacular open star cluster, the Pleiades.

Astronomer Charles Messier assigned the number 45 to the Pleiades while compiling his list of "fuzzy" objects (nebulae) in the sky. Known since ancient times, the Pleiades consists of at least 500 stars spread over 2 degrees in the sky. At least half a dozen are visible with the naked eye, but under ideal conditions, more than a dozen can be seen.

The cluster is also known by other names besides M45. It's also known as the "Seven Sisters" following Greek mythology. The parents are called Atlas and Pleione, and their seven daughters are Alcyone, Asterope, Electra, Maia, Merope, Taygeta and Celaeno. In Japanese, the cluster is known as Subaru, which also inspired the name of a automobile company. In Persia, it was called Soraya.

Hans

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