News
November 13, 2025
The Seven Sisters Star Cluster Is 20 Times Larger Than We Thought
Learn how NASA’s TESS and ESA’s Gaia missions helped astronomers uncover thousands of hidden stars, revealing that the Pleiades are 20 times larger than previously believed.
**The Seven Sisters Star Cluster Is 20 Times Larger Than We Thought**
For generations, stargazers have admired the Pleiades, also known as the Seven Sisters, a shimmering cluster of stars visible to the naked eye. But now, thanks to cutting-edge technology, our understanding of this celestial beauty has undergone a dramatic shift. New research reveals the Pleiades star cluster is a staggering 20 times larger than previously estimated, rewriting textbooks on its size and structure.
This groundbreaking discovery comes courtesy of data gathered by two powerful space missions: NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) and the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Gaia. While TESS is primarily designed to hunt for exoplanets, its wide-field view of the sky has proven invaluable for studying star clusters like the Pleiades. Gaia, on the other hand, excels at precisely measuring the positions and movements of billions of stars.
By combining the data from these two missions, a team of astronomers was able to identify thousands of faint, previously undetected stars belonging to the Pleiades. These stars, located at the cluster's outer edges, had been overlooked in earlier observations due to their dimness and the vast distances separating them from the brighter, more prominent stars at the cluster's core.
The sheer number of newly discovered stars significantly expands the known boundaries of the Pleiades. Before this research, astronomers believed the cluster spanned roughly 43 light-years. The new findings, however, push that figure to an astonishing 860 light-years in diameter. This means that if you were to travel from one side of the Pleiades to the other at the speed of light, it would take you 860 years!
This revelation has significant implications for our understanding of how star clusters form and evolve. The Pleiades, being relatively young at around 100 million years old, serves as a valuable laboratory for studying stellar evolution. Knowing its true size and the distribution of its stars allows astronomers to refine their models of star cluster dynamics and the processes that shape these cosmic gatherings. The discovery highlights the power of combining data from different space missions and the potential for future discoveries that could reshape our understanding of the universe.
For generations, stargazers have admired the Pleiades, also known as the Seven Sisters, a shimmering cluster of stars visible to the naked eye. But now, thanks to cutting-edge technology, our understanding of this celestial beauty has undergone a dramatic shift. New research reveals the Pleiades star cluster is a staggering 20 times larger than previously estimated, rewriting textbooks on its size and structure.
This groundbreaking discovery comes courtesy of data gathered by two powerful space missions: NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) and the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Gaia. While TESS is primarily designed to hunt for exoplanets, its wide-field view of the sky has proven invaluable for studying star clusters like the Pleiades. Gaia, on the other hand, excels at precisely measuring the positions and movements of billions of stars.
By combining the data from these two missions, a team of astronomers was able to identify thousands of faint, previously undetected stars belonging to the Pleiades. These stars, located at the cluster's outer edges, had been overlooked in earlier observations due to their dimness and the vast distances separating them from the brighter, more prominent stars at the cluster's core.
The sheer number of newly discovered stars significantly expands the known boundaries of the Pleiades. Before this research, astronomers believed the cluster spanned roughly 43 light-years. The new findings, however, push that figure to an astonishing 860 light-years in diameter. This means that if you were to travel from one side of the Pleiades to the other at the speed of light, it would take you 860 years!
This revelation has significant implications for our understanding of how star clusters form and evolve. The Pleiades, being relatively young at around 100 million years old, serves as a valuable laboratory for studying stellar evolution. Knowing its true size and the distribution of its stars allows astronomers to refine their models of star cluster dynamics and the processes that shape these cosmic gatherings. The discovery highlights the power of combining data from different space missions and the potential for future discoveries that could reshape our understanding of the universe.
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Technology