Object Analysis

The Hyades is the nearest open star cluster to the Solar System and one of the best-studied of all star clusters. It is located about 153 light-years away in the constellation Taurus. The cluster consists of a roughly spherical group of hundreds of stars sharing the same age, place of origin, chemical content, and motion through space.

To the naked eye, the brightest stars of the Hyades form a distinct "V" shape that outlines the head of the Bull in the constellation Taurus. The bright red giant star Aldebaran appears to be part of the cluster but is actually a foreground star located much closer to Earth (65 light-years) that simply lies along the same line of sight.

The cluster is estimated to be about 625 million years old. Because of its age, many of its original massive stars have evolved off the main sequence into giants, while the lower-mass stars remain. It is slowly evaporating as stars are stripped away by the gravitational influence of the Milky Way.