The Maia Nebula is part of the larger nebulosity surrounding the Pleiades star cluster, also known as the Seven Sisters. It is illuminated by the light of Maia, one of the brightest stars in the cluster. The nebula consists of interstellar dust that reflects the blue light of the hot, young stars in the Pleiades. As a reflection nebula, it presents a challenging but rewarding target for astrophotographers, requiring long exposures to capture its faint, ethereal glow.
Names and Catalog numbers
- Maia Nebula
- vdB 21
- NGC 1432
Position and the cosmic neighborhood
The Maia Nebula is situated within the famous Pleiades open star cluster (M45), one of the most recognizable and photographed objects in the night sky. The Pleiades cluster is easily visible to the naked eye and appears as a small dipper-shaped group of stars in the constellation Taurus. To locate the Maia Nebula specifically, astrophotographers should focus on the area surrounding the star Maia, which is one of the brighter stars in the cluster. The entire Pleiades region, including the Maia Nebula, can be seen rising prominently in the eastern sky during autumn evenings and is best observed during winter months.
Nice to Know
- The Maia Nebula is part of a larger complex of reflection nebulae in the Pleiades, each associated with different bright stars in the cluster.
- Capturing the Maia Nebula requires long exposure times and sensitive equipment due to its faint nature, making it a challenging target for astrophotographers.
- The blue color of the nebula is caused by the selective scattering of starlight by dust particles, similar to why the Earth’s sky appears blue.
- Recent studies have suggested that the Pleiades, including the Maia Nebula, are not formed from the nebulosity they are passing through, but rather are illuminating a chance encounter with a dust cloud in their path.
Brightness, distance and size
The Maia Nebula, being part of the Pleiades cluster, is located approximately 400 light-years away from Earth. The nebula itself does not have a specific magnitude listing, as its brightness is generally considered as part of the overall Pleiades cluster, which has a combined magnitude of about 1.6. The entire Pleiades cluster, including the nebulosity around Maia, spans about 110 arcminutes in the night sky, roughly four times the size of the full moon. However, the Maia Nebula itself is much smaller, typically visible as a faint glow around the star Maia in long-exposure astrophotographs. The actual size of the nebula in light-years is not precisely defined in the available search results, as it blends into the larger nebulosity of the Pleiades cluster.
