Other Names: Pleiades, Collinder 42, Melotte 22, OCL 421
Optics: Borg Astrograph 101ED at f/4.1
Mount: Atlas EQG using The Sky6, EQMOD, & MaxPilote
Camera: QSI 583WS
Filters: Astrodon Lum, Gen II RGB
Exposure: 160 Mins, [32 x 300s] 40 mins each of LRBG
Accessories: Auto guided with Borg 45ED and Orion Starshoot Auto Guider using Maxim DL guiding
Location: Rodeo, NM
Date: November 17th, 2012
Notes: Image acquisition with Maxim DL Pro using MaxPilote automation. Processing: Image calibration, align, and combine in Maxim DL Pro. Levels, curves, crop and resize in Photoshop. LRGB combine completed using Neil Fleming's method (Luminance added in "lighten" blend to each channel - R 100%, G 15%, B 20%, then Luminance added layer at 50% opacity, redo curves on each new layer).
Calibrated w/42 Darks, 93 Bias, 100 Flats of each filter using light box, CCD temperature was -20C. Image was taken near the Arizona Sky Village near Portal, AZ.

High Res Version: http://astromarina.zenfolio.com/img/s8/v80/p1391451550-6.jpg
Luminance Version: http://astromarina.zenfolio.com/p309790024/h52F0A890#h52f0a890
Original RGB Version: http://astromarina.zenfolio.com/p14536770/h52f05dc4#h52f05dc4

In astronomy, the Pleiades (pron.: /ˈplaɪ.ədiːz/ or /ˈpliː.ədiːz/), or Seven Sisters (Messier object 45 or M45), is an open star cluster containing middle-aged hot B-type stars located in the constellation of Taurus. It is among the nearest star clusters to Earth and is the cluster most obvious to the naked eye in the night sky. The name Pleiades comes from Greek mythology; it has several meanings in different cultures and traditions.
The cluster is dominated by hot blue and extremely luminous stars that have formed within the last 100 million years. Dust that forms a faint reflection nebulosity around the brightest stars was thought at first to be left over from the formation of the cluster (hence the alternate name Maia Nebula after the star Maia), but is now known to be an unrelated dust cloud in the interstellar medium that the stars are currently passing through. Computer simulations have shown that the Pleiades was probably formed from a compact configuration that resembled the Orion Nebula.[7] Astronomers estimate that the cluster will survive for about another 250 million years, after which it will disperse due to gravitational interactions with its galactic neighborhood.