Pleiades (star cluster)

The Pleiades (also known as M45 or the Seven Sisters) is an open cluster in the constellation of Taurus. It is among the nearest to earth of all open clusters, probably the best known and certainly the most striking to the naked eye.

The Pleiades in folklore

The Pleiades' high visibility in the night sky has guaranteed it a special place in many cultures, both ancient and modern. To the Vikings, they were Freya's hens, and their name in many old European languages compares them to a hen with chicks. In Greek mythology, they represented the Seven Sisters.

Related Topics:
Viking - Freya - Hen - Greek mythology - Seven Sisters

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The Maori of New Zealand call the Pleiades Mataariki, and their heliacal rising signifies the beginning of the new year (around June). The Australian Aborigines believed they were a woman who had been nearly raped by Kidili, the man in the moon. Alternatively, they were seven sisters called the Makara.

Related Topics:
Maori - New Zealand - Mataariki - Heliacal rising - June - Australian Aborigine - Rape - Kidili - Makara

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The Sioux of North America had a legend that linked the origin of the Pleiades to Devils Tower. It was common among the indigenous peoples of the Americas to measure keenness of vision by the number of stars the viewer could see in the Pleiades, a practice which was also used in historical Europe, especially in Greece.

Related Topics:
Sioux - North America - Devils Tower - Indigenous peoples of the Americas - Vision - Europe - Greece

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In Japan, the Pleiades are known as Subaru, and have given their name to the car manufacturer. In Chinese constellations, they are 昴 mao, the hairy head of the white tiger of the West, while the name of the Hindu God Kartikeya means him of the Pleiades.

Related Topics:
Japan - Subaru - Car manufacturer - Chinese constellation - Hindu - Kartikeya

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In Western astrology they represent coping with sorrow {{ref|astrology}} and were considered a single one of the medieval fixed stars. As such, they are associated with quartz and fennel, and the kabbalistic sign .

Related Topics:
Astrology - Medieval - Fixed stars - Quartz - Fennel - Kabbalistic

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The word has acquired a meaning of "multitude", inspiring the name of the French literary movement La Pléiade and an earlier group of Alexandrian poets.

Related Topics:
La Pléiade - Alexandria

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