As you look at this photo what are the objects that stand out to you? For me my eye is instantly
drawn to the star cluster towards the top. This is the Pleiades. I use this star cluster all the time
as a guide to help me find other constellations . In fact the two easiest star clusters to identify
in the sky are the Pleiades and the Hyades, both of these which are in the constellation
Taurus and right next to each other in the sky. It even has its own asterism called the Golden
Gate of the Ecliptic because the Sun, Moon, and Planets pass through these two star clusters,
and the Pleiades is more compact, it's bluer, while the Hyades is larger in size and appears
to make this v-like shape. So in this video we're going to look at the similarities and differences
between these two star clusters of Taurus, the Pleiades and the Hyades. Welcome to Learn the
Sky, my name is Janine and I'll be your guide as we explore the sky one constellation at a time.
Before we go into the characteristics of each of the star clusters I want to make sure you know how
to identify these in the sky. So here's the pattern of Taurus, and hopefully the Pleiades stands out to
you, It kind of has like a small little dipper shape and the stars are more compact, and then
the Hyades have some differences in color and there's just a wider view, wider field view of the
stars. So these two together make up the asterism known as the Golden Gate of the Ecliptic, and this
has been known for several thousands of years. It's a recent discovery of mine and really this
was dubbed this name because all the planets as well as the Moon and Sun pass really closely along
the the line known as the Ecliptic, and these, the Ecliptic goes through here so that's how it got
its name, and if you take a look at this picture here hopefully you can find the Pleiades to the
right hand bottom corner, and then from there can you find the Hyades. So Pleiades,
and Hyades right here, and here you can see this is the Moon, and you can see
the Moon would travel through this, these two open star clusters. So now that you know how to id them
in the sky, Pleiades and Hyades, let's go over its their characteristics. So first the Pleiades is an open
star cluster. It is located in Taurus and it has a few different names, this especially
varies from culture to culture, but to astronomers it's known as Messier 45 and its distance is about
444 light years away give or take a few light years there. Its age is estimated to be 100 million
years old, and it's also estimated to have over a thousand stars. In terms of its mass it's estimated
to be 800 solar masses, and it's mostly made up of hot blue stars and you can see there's some
nebulosity here throughout this star cluster, and that's a little different than the Hyades. So when
we look at the Hyades, this again is classified as an open star cluster and its distance is different.
It's closer. It's 153 light years away and its age is older as well than the Pleiades. It's estimated
to be 625 million years, so that's why we see that variety of color there. These stars are older. So in
terms of mass it's not as massive as the Pleiades, it's estimated to be 400 solar masses and in terms
of how many stars here I really struggle to pin down the number, so it's estimated to be in
the hundreds but it could be more, and it is the closest star cluster to Earth. That's why it's
heavily studied because of its distance, and we know a lot about this star cluster. So I give you
kind of just small surface details, so now I want to go over a venn diagram comparison. I always do
this with my versus videos because it helps us just to put in perspective what is similar and
different, So the things that are similar... They're both open star clusters and they're both in the
constellation Taurus. You can see them together in the sky. If you can find one you should definitely
be able to find the other. It's also these two star clusters together are known as the Golden Gate of
the Ecliptic asterism, but there are differences. So the Pleiades is farther away than the Hyades.
The Hyades is known as this closest star cluster to Earth. The Pleiades is also more massive and
the Hyades is about you know half the mass of what the Pleiades would be, and the Pleiades is
younger. It has hot blue stars and it's estimated to be 100 million years old, where in terms of
its age for the Hyades, it's much older. Five of the main stars are involving into giant stars,
that's why we see that variety of color, and then the Pleiades is also known as Messier 45, where the
Hyades does not have a messier designation. So again I hope this video was helpful for
you to be able to see the differences and definitely be able to spot them
in the sky. To me these two things are very easy, very very easy to find and I use the Pleiades to
help me find other constellations such as Aries, which is not on the screen and Auriga, and so on
and so forth. Here's what the star pattern looks like for Taurus and that's where the star clusters
are located. So the two easiest star clusters that you can see in the sky are right next to each
other, so that's very helpful. So before we wrap up this video let's review the similarities and
differences between the Pleiades and the Hyades. They are similar because they're both open star
clusters in Taurus and together they make up the asterism called the Golden Gate of the Ecliptic.
In terms of their differences, they're different in terms of their distance from us. The Hyades is a
lot closer than the Pleiades, but in reality they're both fairly close to Earth when you
compare it to other star clusters out there. The age and type of stars is different. The Pleiades
is a younger star cluster that's bound together by gravity, well this one is older. Remember Aldebaranm,
the brightest star in Taurus is not a part of the Hyades. It it looks like it is, but it's not,
and then their mass is also different. This is twice the amount of mass
than the Hyades. So thank you so much for watching. I hope this video was helpful for you.
When you go out in the winter sky make sure you try to find these two objects. They're definitely
my favorite, Taurus has always been a favorite of mine just because it has so many cool things to
see and it's easy to point out. So thank you again for watching. Remember as you're learning how to
view the stars it takes time, patience, and practice. There's lots of resources out there for you, be
sure to check out some of the playlists I have, and as always keep going outside and keep looking up.