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A distance of 133–137 parsecs to the Pleiades star cluster

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  • Xiaopei Pan

    (Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology)

  • M. Shao

    (Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology)

  • S. R. Kulkarni

    (Caltech Optical Observatories 105-24, California Institute of Technology)

Abstract

Nearby ‘open’ clusters of stars (those that are not gravitationally bound) have played a crucial role in the development of stellar astronomy because, as a consequence of the stars having a common age, they provide excellent natural laboratories to test theoretical stellar models. Clusters also play a fundamental part in determining distance scales. The satellite Hipparcos1 surprisingly found that an extensively studied open cluster—the Pleiades (also known as the Seven Sisters)—had a distance of D = 118 ± 4 pc (refs 2, 3), about ten per cent smaller than the accepted value4,5,6. The discrepancy generated a spirited debate because the implication7 was that either current stellar models were incorrect by a surprising amount or Hipparcos was giving incorrect distances. Here we report the orbital parameters of the bright double star Atlas in the Pleiades, using long-baseline optical/infrared interferometry. From the data we derive a firm lower bound of D > 127 pc, with the most likely range being 133

Suggested Citation

  • Xiaopei Pan & M. Shao & S. R. Kulkarni, 2004. "A distance of 133–137 parsecs to the Pleiades star cluster," Nature, Nature, vol. 427(6972), pages 326-328, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:427:y:2004:i:6972:d:10.1038_nature02296
    DOI: 10.1038/nature02296
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