Pleiades
pronunciation
How to pronounce Pleiades in British English:
UK [ˈplaiədi:z]
How to pronounce Pleiades in American English:
US [ˈpliəˌdiz, ˈplaɪ-]
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- Noun:
- (Greek mythology) 7 daughters of Atlas and half-sisters of the Hyades; placed among the stars to save them from the pursuit of Orion
- a star cluster in the constellation Taurus
Word Origin
- Pleiades (n.)
- late 14c., the seven daughters of Atlas and Pleione, transformed by Zeus into seven stars, from Latin Pleiades, from Greek Pleiades, perhaps literally "constellation of the doves" from a shortened form of peleiades, plural of peleias "dove" (from PIE root *pel- "dark-colored, gray"). Or perhaps from plein "to sail," because the season of navigation begins with their heliacal rising. Old English had the name from Latin as Pliade. Mentioned by Hesiod (pre-700 B.C.E.), only six now are visible to most people; on a clear night a good eye can see nine (in 1579, well before the invention of the telescope, the German astronomer Michael Moestlin (1550-1631) correctly drew 11 Pleiades stars); telescopes reveal at least 500. Hence French pleiade, used for a meeting or grouping of seven persons.
Example
- 1. Jupiter is to the upper right of the moon ( in conjunction ) , brilliant venus is below pereira 's sword and the pleiades star cluster is at top .
- 2. In the processed digital image , multiple exposures of the celestial scene were combined to show details of the bright lunar surface along with the pleiades stars .
- 3. The famous pleiades constellation gets a new look in the infrared .
- 4. In this mosaic image containing hundreds of image frames captured by wise , the famous pleiades star cluster shines through an immense cloud of dust 436 light-years from earth in the constellation taurus .
- 5. The pleiades is an open star cluster , which means that while its stars are bound loosely together right now , each star will eventually go its own way within a few hundred million years .