Definitions for: Pleiades


[n] a star cluster in the constellation Taurus
[n] (Greek mythology) 7 daughters of Atlas and half-sisters of the Hyades; placed among the stars to save them from the pursuit of Orion



Webster (1913) Definition: Ple"ia*des (?; 277), n. pl. [L., fr. Gr. (?)]
1. (Myth.) The seven daughters of Atlas and the nymph
Pleione, fabled to have been made by Jupiter a
constellation in the sky.

2. (Astron.) A group of small stars in the neck of the
constellation Taurus. --Job xxxviii. 31.

Note: Alcyone, the brightest of these, a star of the third
magnitude, was considered by M["a]dler the central
point around which our universe is revolving, but there
is no sufficient evidence of such motion. Only six
pleiads are distinctly visible to the naked eye, whence
the ancients supposed that a sister had concealed
herself out of shame for having loved a mortal,
Sisyphus.

See Also: Asterope, Asterope, bunch, clump, cluster, clustering, nymph, Sterope, Sterope, Taurus

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