Where Are the Pleiades Tonight? Meet the Seven Sisters Star Cluster
The Pleiades are one of those sky sights that feel almost unreal: a tiny sparkling “dipper” of blue-white stars, bright enough to see without a telescope. But there’s one catch — you need to know exactly where and when to look from your location. Open the free Sky Tonight app, type “Pleiades” in the search, and it will guide you straight to the Seven Sisters in your sky. Then come back here to learn why this little star cluster has fascinated skywatchers for thousands of years.
Contents
- What Are the Pleiades (M45): Quick Facts
- Where Is the Pleiades Cluster in the Sky Tonight from My Location?
- Why Are the Pleiades Not a Constellation but a Star Cluster?
- Pleiades Tonight: Next Events 2026
- How to Photograph the Pleiades Tonight?
- How Big Is the Pleiades Star Cluster?
- Seven Sisters, Stars of the Pleiades Cluster
- Pleiades Star Cluster in Myths And Legends
- The Life Cycle of the Pleiades
- 4 Fun Facts About the Pleiades
- Pleiades Star Cluster F.A.Q.
- Pleiades Star Cluster: Conclusion
What Are the Pleiades (M45): Quick Facts
- What it is: a bright open star cluster, also known as the Seven Sisters, M45, or Subaru
- Where it is: in the constellation Taurus, near the ecliptic
- How big it is: ≈2° across (four times the Moon’s diameter)
- Best time to see it in the Northern Hemisphere: October–February
- Best time to see it in the Southern Hemisphere: November–March
- How to find it tonight: look for Orion’s Belt, then follow the line toward Taurus, or use Sky Tonight to locate it instantly
- Visibility: under dark skies, most observers can see six stars with the naked eye
Where Is the Pleiades Cluster in the Sky Tonight from My Location?
The Pleiades can be found in the constellation Taurus. In the Northern Hemisphere, they are best seen from late autumn through winter (roughly October to February). In the Southern Hemisphere, the cluster is well placed from about November to March.
Pleiades location and visibility
Since the Pleiades sit in the northern half of the sky (about 24° N in declination) and near the ecliptic, they’re visible from essentially all inhabited latitudes; they fail to rise only south of ~66°S. To check the position of the star cluster, use the stargazing app Sky Tonight: launch the app, and tap the magnifier icon at the lower part of the screen. Then type “Pleiades” in the search bar and tap on the target icon opposite the corresponding search result. The app will show the cluster’s current position in the sky, so you can see if it is visible now from your location.
How to find the Pleiades from Orion’s Belt
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Look for Orion’s Belt — the three bright stars in a straight line.
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Draw an imaginary line through them toward the bright orange star – this is Aldebaran in Taurus.
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Extend the line from Aldebaran in the same direction, and you will see a small, blue-white cluster — that’s the Pleiades. They appear about four times the diameter of the Full Moon across the sky and resemble a tiny version of the Big Dipper.
Why Are the Pleiades Not a Constellation but a Star Cluster?
The Pleiades are not a constellation – they are an open star cluster in the constellation Taurus. An open star cluster is a loosely bound group of a few dozen to a few thousand stars that formed from the same giant molecular cloud at the same time.
People often mistakenly call the Pleiades a constellation because the cluster forms a recognizable pattern in the sky, resembling a small “dipper” of bluish stars. However, this is incorrect. A constellation is one of the 88 officially defined regions of the sky recognized by the International Astronomical Union (IAU). It is a large region of the sky used for mapping celestial objects. The stars in a constellation may appear close together from Earth, but they are usually not physically related and can lie at vastly different distances.
Pleiades Tonight: Next Events 2026
The Pleiades form a tiny swarm of blue stars, their faint light scattered across a region four times wider than the Moon. Occasionally, the Moon drifts past the Pleiades and even glides right across the cluster, hiding some of its stars one by one — a fascinating event called a lunar occultation. You can use Sky Tonight to see whether the Moon and the Pleiades are visible in your sky during these encounters. If the occultation isn’t observable from your area, switch your location in the app and zoom in on the Moon to watch how the event unfolds from other parts of the world.
November 24, 2026: Moon near the Pleiades; lunar occultation of the Pleiades
- Conjunction time: 12:06 UTC
- Conjunction distance: 0°56′
- Global occultation start: 08:21 UTC
- Global occultation end: 13:44 UTC
On November 24, the nearly full Moon will pass near the Pleiades star cluster. The two will be visible in the sky for most of the night. Since the Moon will be very bright, its light may wash out many of the Pleiades’ stars. Use a telescope for a better view.
| City | Time zone | Visibility start | Visibility end | Best time | Separation | Moon altitude | Alcyone altitude |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tokyo, Japan | JST (UTC+9) | Nov 24, 17:30 | Nov 25, 05:25 | Nov 24, 19:40 | 0°28′ | 43° | 42° |
| Beijing, China | CST (UTC+8) | Nov 24, 18:00 | Nov 25, 06:05 | Nov 24, 18:40 | 0°16′ | 25° | 25° |
| Manila, Philippines | Philippine time (UTC+8) | Nov 24, 18:15 | Nov 25, 05:10 | Nov 24, 18:15* | 0°35′ | 16° | 16° |
| Darwin, Australia | ACST (UTC+9:30) | Nov 24, 19:50 | Nov 25, 05:10 | Nov 24, 19:50* | 1°05′ | 14° | 14° |
| Cairns, Australia | AEST (UTC+10) | Nov 24, 19:25 | Nov 25, 04:30 | Nov 24, 19:50 | 1°15′ | 18° | 18° |
| Honolulu, USA | HST (UTC−10) | Nov 23, 18:40 | Nov 24, 05:55 | Nov 24, 02:55 | 1°02′ | 51° | 51° |
| Anchorage, USA | AKST (UTC−9) | Nov 23, 18:00 | Nov 24, 07:35 | Nov 24, 03:35 | 0°21′ | 42° | 42° |
| San Francisco, USA | PST (UTC−8) | Nov 23, 17:55 | Nov 24, 05:55 | Nov 24, 05:20 | 0°35′ | 19° | 19° |
| New York, USA | EST (UTC−5) | Nov 23, 17:40 | Nov 24, 05:45 | Nov 24, 05:45* | 1°36′ | 12° | 13° |
The table shows local viewing times for the Moon’s conjunction with the Pleiades on November 24, 2026. Alcyone, the cluster’s brightest star, is used as the reference point.
- Visibility start and end: the period when the Moon and Alcyone are both at least 10° above the horizon and the Sun is more than 12° below it.
- Best time: when the Moon and Alcyone appear closest together within the visibility window.
- Separation: the angular distance from the Moon’s center to Alcyone at the listed best time.
- Altitude: each object’s height above the horizon at the listed best time.
All dates and times are local. Times are rounded to 5 minutes, separations to 1′, and altitudes to 1°.
In Manila and Darwin, the closest approach occurs before the sky meets the darkness criterion; the listed best time is therefore the start of the viewing window. In New York, the objects continue drawing closer after the window ends.
These are viewing windows for the close approach, not occultation contact times. Individual stars may be hidden behind the Moon during part of the window. The table does not indicate which stars are occulted from each city.
The lunar occultation of individual Pleiades stars will be visible from parts of Southeast Asia, Indonesia, northern and eastern Australia, North Asia, the Pacific, and North America. The best visibility will be in regions where the occultation happens under a dark sky, including Japan, parts of China and eastern Russia, and western North America.
In Southeast Asia, some parts of Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and northern Australia, the event will occur around sunset or evening twilight, so the earlier stages may be harder to see until the sky darkens. Across much of Eastern North America, the occultation will take place closer to dawn, with the sky brightening during the event.
December 21–22, 2026: Moon near the Pleiades; lunar occultation of the Pleiades
- Conjunction time: 11:53 UTC
- Conjunction distance: 0°56′
- Global occultation start: 19:41 UTC
- Global occultation end: December 22, 01:01 UTC
On December 21–22, the waxing gibbous Moon will pass close to the Pleiades star cluster in Taurus. Its disk will be about 93% illuminated, so bright moonlight will wash out many of the cluster’s fainter stars.
| City | Time zone | Visibility start | Visibility end | Best time | Separation | Moon altitude | Alcyone altitude |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| London, UK | GMT (UTC+0) | Dec 21, 17:20 | Dec 22, 04:45 | Dec 21, 23:45 | 0°35′ | 55° | 55° |
| Madrid, Spain | CET (UTC+1) | Dec 21, 19:00 | Dec 22, 05:30 | Dec 22, 00:40 | 0°47′ | 64° | 64° |
| Rome, Italy | CET (UTC+1) | Dec 21, 17:50 | Dec 22, 04:30 | Dec 22, 01:10 | 0°44′ | 47° | 47° |
| Stockholm, Sweden | CET (UTC+1) | Dec 21, 16:40 | Dec 22, 05:00 | Dec 22, 01:00 | 0°27′ | 40° | 40° |
| Marrakesh, Morocco | Morocco time (UTC+1) | Dec 21, 19:30 | Dec 22, 05:30 | Dec 22, 00:30 | 0°56′ | 73° | 73° |
| Istanbul, Turkey | TRT (UTC+3) | Dec 21, 18:45 | Dec 22, 05:20 | Dec 22, 03:30 | 0°40′ | 31° | 30° |
| Dubai, UAE | GST (UTC+4) | Dec 21, 18:30 | Dec 22, 04:05 | Dec 22, 04:05* | 0°53′ | 10° | 10° |
| Boston, USA | EST (UTC−5) | Dec 21, 17:25 | Dec 22, 04:00 | Dec 21, 17:25* | 0°26′ | 37° | 37° |
The table shows local viewing times for the Moon’s close approach to the Pleiades on December 21–22, 2026. Alcyone, the cluster’s brightest star, is used as the reference point.
- Visibility start and end: the period when the Moon and Alcyone are both at least 10° above the horizon and the Sun is more than 12° below it.
- Best time: when the Moon and Alcyone appear closest together within the viewing window.
- Separation: the angular distance from the Moon’s center to Alcyone at the listed best time.
- Altitude: each object’s height above the horizon at the listed best time.
All dates and times are local. Times are rounded to 5 minutes, separations to 1′, and altitudes to 1°.
In Boston, the closest approach occurs before the sky meets the darkness criterion, so the listed best time is the start of the viewing window. In Dubai, the objects continue drawing closer after the Moon drops below the 10° altitude threshold.
These windows describe the close approach, not the duration of the occultation. A city’s inclusion does not mean that Alcyone or another particular star will be occulted there. The global event parameters refer to the Pleiades cluster; the local separations in this table refer specifically to Alcyone.
Some of the Pleiades’ stars will disappear behind the Moon and reappear on the other side — an event called a lunar occultation. Occultations of individual cluster members will be visible from parts of Europe, northern Asia, Greenland, and northeastern North America. The stars covered and their disappearance and reappearance times will depend on the observing location.
Binoculars will help reveal the cluster beside the bright Moon. A small telescope will make it easier to follow individual stars as they approach the lunar edge. Disappearances at the Moon’s dark limb will generally be easier to observe than reappearances beside its bright limb.
How to Photograph the Pleiades Tonight?
The Pleiades are one of the most rewarding deep-sky targets for beginner astrophotographers. Their bright blue stars and surrounding reflection nebulae look stunning in long-exposure images, even with basic equipment.
Use the right gear
A DSLR or mirrorless camera on a solid tripod is all you need to start. Use a 50–85 mm lens to capture the whole cluster, or 100–200 mm if you want to zoom in on its bright center. If you have a star tracker, it’ll help you take longer shots without the stars turning into streaks. A remote shutter or self-timer will keep the camera steady, and a dew heater helps if the lens fogs up.
Find a dark sky
The delicate blue glow around the Pleiades is easily washed out by light pollution. Choose a location far from city lights and shoot when the Moon is below the horizon or during its crescent phase.
Exposure settings
Start with ISO 800–1600 and f/2.8–f/4. Without a tracker, choose the exposure time to suit your focal length and camera resolution. Take a test shot and shorten the exposure if the stars appear elongated. With a tracker, you can go up to 30–120 seconds.
Take lots of shots and later stack them on a computer. This reduces noise and brings out more detail. Always shoot in RAW, and if possible, take a few dark and flat frames to help clean up your final image.
Focus carefully
Pick a bright star, like Alcyone (the brightest star in the Pleiades), zoom in using a live view, and focus until the star looks as small and sharp as possible. Then switch off autofocus and don’t touch the focus ring; you can even tape it in place.
Check focus from time to time, especially if the temperature changes, because as the night gets colder, the lens and camera parts slightly contract, and the focus may shift, making stars look blurry.
Plan your shot
You can use Sky Tonight to see when the Pleiades are highest in your sky and to plan the framing with the Moon or nearby constellations.
How Big Is the Pleiades Star Cluster?
In the sky, the Pleiades look compact but still cover a surprisingly large area: the main visible group spans about 2 degrees across, or roughly four times the apparent width of the Full Moon.
In space, the familiar bright core of the Pleiades contains about 1,000 to 1,500 stars. However, the research published in late 2025 using NASA's TESS and ESA's Gaia data suggested that the Pleiades are actually the dense central part of a much larger stellar structure called the Greater Pleiades Complex. This extended complex contains more than 3,000 associated stars, spans about 1,900 light-years, and includes several known star clusters that likely formed from the same giant molecular cloud.
Seven Sisters, Stars of the Pleiades Cluster
The Pleiades, or the Seven Sisters, are an open star cluster, which means their stars are true stellar siblings: they formed from the same giant cloud of gas and dust and still travel through space together. The brightest members of the cluster are hot, blue-white stars that shine hundreds of times more brightly than the Sun. Because these massive stars burn through their fuel quickly, they will live for only a few hundred million years – far less than the Sun’s multi-billion-year lifetime.
The brightest stars in the cluster are named after figures from Greek mythology: the Seven Sisters — Alcyone, Electra, Maia, Merope, Taygeta, Celaeno, and Asterope/Sterope — and their parents, Atlas and Pleione. Here are the brightest Pleiades stars, sorted by apparent magnitude:
- Alcyone (25 Tauri): 2.87
- Atlas (27 Tauri): 3.63
- Electra (17 Tauri): 3.70
- Maia (20 Tauri): 3.87
- Merope (23 Tauri): 4.14
- Taygeta (19 Tauri): 4.30
- Pleione (28 Tauri): 5.05
- Celaeno (16 Tauri): 5.45
- Sterope I (Asterope, 21 Tauri): 5.76
- Sterope II (22 Tauri): 6.43
How many stars are visible in the Pleiades?
Most people can spot six Pleiades stars with the naked eye at a glance. With sharp eyesight, patience, and a dark, clear sky, you may distinguish more stars. An American astronomer, Robert Burnham Jr., claimed that at least 20 cluster stars might be detectable under clear skies; most people see no more than 14. Binoculars or a wide-field, low-power telescope give the best view of the whole cluster. Higher magnification can reveal fainter stars, but it will show only part of the Pleiades at once. All the brightest stars can be found within roughly a 1.5–2° core.
What star is missing?
If most people see the cluster as a six-star pattern, why is it called the Seven Sisters? The reason is that they may have looked slightly different in ancient times when the name was coined. Back then, naked-eyed observers might have more easily distinguished seven stars in the cluster. Over time, one of them may have become harder to see individually. Our ancestors noticed and reflected it in myths, which we will discuss later.
The change was probably caused by Pleione, the seventh-brightest star of the cluster. It is a shell star that varies in brightness; it may have been somewhat more prominent but faded below naked-eye visibility. One more explanation is that over time, their proper motions brought Pleione and Atlas close enough to each other in the sky that they can appear as a single point to the naked eye.
Pleiades Star Cluster in Myths And Legends
Many cultures have similar stories about the origin of the Pleiades star cluster, possibly inspired by the disappearance of the seventh star. Some scientists believe they were made up 100,000 years ago! When the seventh star vanished, ancient people tried to explain that through myths.
Seven Sisters star cluster could be the Seven Brothers
For example, one Aboriginal Australian legend tells of seven sisters who fled into the sky from the old man chasing them; one of the women was captured and saved later. Native Americans had various myths about the seven brothers who rose to the sky while running or dancing in a circle. According to the Cherokee version, one of the boys was caught by his mother and failed to make it to the sky.
The Pleiades and Orion: the Greek myth
The Greek myth is the most popular version of the story. According to it, the Pleiades were daughters of the Titan Atlas and the nymph Pleione. After a chance encounter with the sisters, the hunter Orion fell in love and started chasing them. Zeus decided to protect the girls from the unwanted attention and turned the sisters into doves, so they could fly up and become the stars. Before ascending to the sky, one of the sisters, Merope, was married to a mortal, King Sisyphus. When the gods condemned him to roll a boulder forever, she was so ashamed of him that she hid her face and disappeared from the night sky.
Interestingly, in the myth, it is Merope that is referred to as “the lost Pleiad”. But modern astronomers often point to Pleione (close to Atlas and known for its variable brightness) as a more likely "lost" star that inspired the myth.
The Life Cycle of the Pleiades
The Pleiades, also known as the Seven Sisters, are an open cluster — a family of stars born from the same colossal cloud of gas and dust.
How were the Pleiades born?
Their story began when a vast cloud of gas and dust collapsed under its own gravity, heating up until nuclear fusion ignited, giving birth to hundreds of young, brilliant stars, whose brightest members are hot B-type stars. These stars illuminate nearby reflection nebulae — clouds of dust that scatter their light and produce the cluster’s ethereal blue glow.
For a long time, astronomers believed this dust was the remnant of the cluster’s formation. Today, it’s thought that the Pleiades are simply passing through an unrelated cloud of interstellar dust. The cloud is a reflection nebula: dust scatters blue light from the cluster’s hot stars, rather than emitting its own light.
When were the Pleiades formed?
In the grand timeline of the Universe, the Pleiades are relatively young, estimated to be about 100–125 million years old. To put this in perspective, dinosaurs appeared on Earth long before the Pleiades lit up our skies.
How long will the Pleiades last?
The Pleiades are not destined to last forever. Astronomers estimate that the cluster will survive for about 200–400 million years, after which gravitational interactions will gradually disperse its stars.
The Pleiades are at the early stage of the stellar life cycle. Many Pleiades stars are still on the main sequence, fusing hydrogen into helium. In hundreds of millions of years, many of their stars will evolve into red giants and eventually fade into white dwarfs, leaving only a trace of their former brilliance. To explore this journey in more detail, see our stellar life cycle infographic.
4 Fun Facts About the Pleiades
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The Pleiades were mentioned in the Bible three times – all three times along with the constellation Orion.
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In ancient times, many cultures used the Pleiades as a calendar. By its appearance in the sky, the farmers knew when to start harvesting or planting crops, and the sailors understood when it was time to open the navigation season (the name “Pleiades” was possibly derived from the Greek word meaning “to sail”).
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The cloud of interstellar dust surrounding the Pleiades is not a part of the cluster. It was believed to be the remnants of the material from which the stars were born. But it turned out that the nebulosity is independent and just happens to be near the Pleiades.
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The Pleiades inspired the name and the six-star logo of the Japanese car-manufacturing company Subaru (the Japanese name for the cluster). You might have thought the creators wanted to be astronomically accurate and made it look like the Pleiades in the actual night sky. But in fact, the logo illustrates the company's history. In Japanese, “subaru” also means “united”, and the stars represent five small companies that merged into one big – Fuji Heavy Industries, Subaru’s parent company.
Pleiades Star Cluster F.A.Q.
Are the Pleiades a constellation?
The Pleiades are an open star cluster within the constellation Taurus. A constellation is an officially defined region of the sky, while a star cluster is a physical group of related stars. There are 88 constellations officially recognized by the IAU.
Read our dedicated article to learn more about constellations and their particular features.
When are the Pleiades visible?
In the Northern Hemisphere, the Pleiades star cluster is best placed from approximately October to February. In the Southern Hemisphere, look from about November to March.
Can you see the Pleiades without a telescope?
The Pleiades are in the top 3 best naked-eye star clusters. Most people see it as a group of six stars, but if you have good eyesight and it's dark enough outside, you can spot up to 14 stars.
Can you see other open clusters near the Pleiades?
Yes! The Pleiades are not the only open cluster in this part of the sky. Just a short distance to the east, within the same constellation of Taurus, you’ll find the Hyades, a nearby open cluster that forms a bright “V” shape marking the bull’s face. Farther along the ecliptic, in the constellation Cancer, lies the Beehive Cluster (M44) — another beautiful open cluster visible to the naked eye under dark skies.
Who discovered the Pleiades?
Galileo Galilei was the first to observe the Pleiades through a telescope. However, the star cluster was known long before that: its “origin story” may date back to 100,000 BC. The name of the first person to see the Pleiades in the sky has not been preserved in history.
How old are the Pleiades?
The Pleiades are about 125 million years old, an age adopted in recent research on the cluster. However, the exact estimates vary because astronomers use different methods and stellar evolution models to determine how long ago the stars formed.
To explore even more easy-to-see star clusters, nebulae, and galaxies, check our infographic on the brightest deep-sky objects. It shows how to find them in the sky and gives tips on observing them.
Pleiades Star Cluster: Conclusion
The Pleiades are an open star cluster and one of the brightest deep-sky objects. Under dark skies, they are visible to the naked eye: most observers can spot six stars resembling a smaller version of the Big Dipper. Binoculars or a telescope reveal many more stars. The surrounding reflection nebulosity is much harder to see visually and shows up far more readily in photographs. The Pleiades are a great target for amateur deep-sky observers as they’re bright and easy to see. The Sky Tonight app simplifies locating the Pleiades: with just a few taps, you can find it in the night sky.
We wish you clear skies and happy observations!
