These beautiful stars are the Seven Sisters, the daughters of Atlas and Pleione, seen here as a negative, to reveal extensive faint nebulosity surrounding the cluster. Their names of the stars are Maia, Electra, Taygeta, Alcyone, Celaeno, Sterope and Merope; in Greek mythology all the Pleiades except Merope consorted with gods. The two stars on the left of the photograph (east) are the parents, Atlas and Pleoine. Their delicate beauty as seen with the unaided eye gives rise to legends involving groups of women in many cultures around the world.

The Pleiades are moving together through space and are 400 light years distant in the constellation of Taurus. As befits their their femininity, modern photographs show the stars to be appropriately veiled in a delicate veil of dust which reflects their light and which has been emphasised in this image. This photograph was derived from a plate taken in blue light on the UK Schmidt Telescope.