Stargazing: Get a glimpse of the Seven Sisters

Taurus, also known as the bull, is a constellation that can be easily seen overhead at this time of the year. 

Have you ever heard of the Pleiades or Seven Sisters? The Pleiades are a commonly known open cluster of stars around 445 light years away, and can easily be seen with the naked eye. 

To locate them, find Orion almost directly overhead at 10 pm. Looking at Orion’s belt, trace a straight line to the right until you see a very bright orange star. That is Aldebaran, which is the brightest star in Taurus. Gaze slightly further to the right and you will come across a bunch of stars that almost appear to be stuck together. This is the open cluster Pleadies, also known as the Seven Sisters. 

However, there are quite a few more than seven stars there. In fact, scientists estimate that close to 3,000 stars are clustered in this area. 

If you want to try to see more than seven, there are a few things you can try. 

Firstly, moving to a darker location will decrease light pollution allowing more stars to appear. 

Diverted vision is another tactic you can try. It means to divert your vision or look away from what you are looking at. It allows less light to be seen through the center of your eye, making the outer parts brighter. 

I must mention that a simple pair of binoculars does wonders while stargazing. 

The last tip you could use to see more stars when stargazing is to go out on a night with a new moon. When there is a new moon, the only part of the moon we see is dark, meaning less light will interfere with your night vision. The new moon will be on March 23.

Georgia Howard is a student at Charlotte Latin School.