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They were the daughters of Atlas,
seven in number. Their names were Electra, Maia,
Taygete, Alcyone, Merope, Celaeno, Sterope. Orion
pursued them but they fled before him and he could
never seize any of them. Still he continued to follow
them until Zeus, pitying them, placed them in the
heavens as stars. But it was said that even there
Orion continued his pursuit, always unsuccessful,
yet persistent. While they lived on earth one of
them, Maia, was the mother of Hermes. Another, Electra,
was the mother of Dardanus, the founder of the Trojan
race. Although it is agreed that there were seven
of them, only six stars are clearly visible. The
seventh is invisible except to those who have especially
keen sight.
Edith Hamilton
Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes
The New American Library, New York, Toronto, 1942
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Animation:
Zoom-in to the Merope
Nebula
1.6MB MPEG
Animation Credit: STScI AVL
Image Credits: Terence Dickinson, Digitized
Sky Survey,
Chuck Vaughn, Hubble Heritage Team |
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Backyard view of the Pleiades, with
Jupiter, Saturn and the Hyades
Image Credit: Terence Dickinson |
.A Color Image of Merope
Image Credit: Nigel
Sharp (NOAO),
BVR image taken in January 1997 at the Burrell
Schmidt telecope (Warner and Swasey Obs.
of the Case Western Reserve Univ.), located
on Kitt
Peak, Tucson, AZ.
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Merope and Its Nebula
Image Credit: Chuck
Vaughn, amateur astrophotographer. 85
minute exposure taken wth a 12.5" f/9 Ritchey-Chretien
telescope |
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