HUBBLE REFINES DISTANCE TO PLEIADES STAR CLUSTER (STScI-PR04-20)

FOR RELEASE: 9:00 am (EDT) June 1, 2004

CONTACT:
Donna Weaver
Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, MD
(Phone: 410-338-4493; E-mail: )

David Soderblom
Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, MD
(Phone: 410-338-4543; E-mail: )

PRESS RELEASE NO.: STScI-PR04-20


HUBBLE REFINES DISTANCE TO PLEIADES STAR CLUSTER

Astronomers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have helped settle a
mystery that has puzzled scientists concerning the exact distance to the
famous nearby star cluster known as the Pleiades, or the Seven Sisters.
The Pleiades cluster, named by the ancient Greeks, is easily seen as a
small grouping of stars lying near the shoulder of Taurus, the Bull, in
the winter sky. Although it might be expected that the distance to this
well-studied cluster would be well established, there has been an
ongoing controversy among astronomers about its distance for the past
seven years.

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http://hubblesite.org/news/2004/20

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HUBBLE REFINES DISTANCE TO PLEIADES STAR CLUSTER



Interesting.
Does anyone know whether the Hipparcos data have a systematic error that can
be removed (assuming its cause is known), or is it random?


DaveL