Tonight, the Arab world will witness a beautiful astronomical event represented by the passage of the crescent moon near the Pleiades star cluster.
According to the Astronomical Society in Jeddah, the moon will appear high in the sky after dark. Observers will be able to see the Pleiades cluster, also known as the “Seven Sisters,” beneath the moon.
However, the light pollution in cities makes it difficult to see the cluster with the naked eye, so it is recommended to use binoculars to observe and photograph it.
The open Pleiades cluster consists of about 500 stars, all of which emerged together from a cloud of gas and dust approximately 100 million years ago, making it relatively young compared to the age of the Sun, which is 4.6 billion years old.
Engineer Majid Abu Zahra, President of the Astronomical Society in Jeddah, explained that the cluster is located at a distance of approximately 430 to 445 light-years from us, according to recent measurements made by the Hubble Telescope.
The most important feature of the Pleiades is the presence of seven bright stars that can be seen with the naked eye from a dark place and under a clear sky. (Arabic)
