Star Cluster Pleiades Size:24" x 16" (61 cm x 41 cm) 1996 by the Solid State

1996 by the Solid State Imaging (CCD) system aboard NASA's Galileo spacecraft

Astronomers sometimes call the region imaged the “Southern Cliff” because it resembles a sharp drop-off

the Tarantula Nebula and its surroundings

A careful look at the central part of this object reveals not only the knots

scattered across a spectacular celestial landscape of gas

Star Cluster Pleiades Size:24" x 16" (61 cm x 41 cm) 1996 by the Solid StateThe brilliant stars seen in this image are members of the popular open star cluster known as the Pleiades, or Seven Sisters. The Hubble Space Telescope's Fine Guidance Sensors refined the distance to the Pleiades at about 440 light years. The Fine Guidance Sensors are at the periphery of Hubble's field of view. They trace a circumference that is approximately the angular size of the Moon on the sky. They are overlaid on this image to give a scale to