ABSTRACT
The whole of Taurus is shown, together with most of Auriga and parts of Perseus, Orion, Eridanus and Cetus. The total population amounts to several hundreds of stars, but there is no visible nebulosity; the cluster is fairly old, which is why several of the leaders have had time to leave the Main Sequence and become red giants. The fact that all the leading Pleiads are hot white or bluish stars of type B indicates that the cluster is young, and there is a great deal of nebulosity, visually elusive but surprisingly easy to photograph. In the image it is detectable as a very faint patch; it can be seen with powerful binoculars, and almost any small telescope will show it, but photography is needed to bring out the complicated structure which led the Earl of Rosse, in 1850, to give it its familiar nickname.
