File:Hyades_cluster.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
The Hyades is a nearby star cluster located about 150 light-years from Earth that contains hundreds of stars bound together by gravity. It matters because its relative closeness and age make it an important natural laboratory for astronomers studying how stars form, evolve, and move through space.
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Wikidata facts
- Distance from Earth
- 153
- Image
- Hyades.jpg
Show 11 more facts
- Commons category
- Hyades
- Commons gallery
- Hyades
- catalog code
- Cl Collinder 50
- apparent magnitude
- 0.5
- right ascension
- 66.725000
- declination
- 15.866670
- radial velocity
- 39.96
- metallicity
- 0.13
- parallax
- 21.052
- right ascension component of proper motion
- 101.005
- declination component of proper motion
- -28.490
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Article
The Hyades (/ˈhaɪ.ədiːz/; Greek: Ὑάδες; also known as Caldwell 41, Collinder 50, or Melotte 25) is the nearest open cluster and one of the best-studied star clusters. Located about 153 light-years (47 parsecs) away from the Sun, it consists of a roughly spherical group of hundreds of stars sharing the same age, place of origin, chemical characteristics, and motion through space.
From the perspective of observers on Earth, the Hyades Cluster appears in the constellation Taurus, where its brightest stars form a "V" shape along with the still-brighter Aldebaran. However, Aldebaran is unrelated to the Hyades, as it is located much closer to Earth (65 light-years) and merely happens to lie along the same line of sight. The moving group CWNU 1242 also shares the line of sight to Hyades but is likewise not associated with Hyades being 291 parsecs away.