Initial Observations

Abstract

Star clusters are glorious objects to look at. The closest, such as the youthful Pleiades or the more mature Hyades, form little villages of light woven amongst the constellations and naturally attract the eye. With binoculars the six or seven stars of the Pleiades that are visible to the naked eye resolve into dozens of stars encased in a wispy nebulosity of gas and dust that shimmers with a pallid blue glow. It is only when the full glare of a moderate or larger scope is brought upon these objects that their full glory emerges. Hundreds of stars, the majority far dimmer than the Sun, appear. Through the steady increase in our ability to resolve the stars we have begun to understand how these hypnotic objects have emerged from the cold darkness of space. It is this story that The Complex Lives of Star Clusters explores.