Pleiades

Origin of name

The name of the Pleiades comes from Ancient Greek. It probably derives from plein ("to sail") because of the cluster's importance in delimiting the sailing season in the Mediterranean Sea: "the season of navigation began with their heliacal rising".[12] However, in mythology the name was used for the Pleiades, seven divine sisters, the name supposedly deriving from that of their mother Pleione and effectively meaning "daughters of Pleione". In reality, the name of the star cluster almost certainly came first, and Pleione was invented to explain it.

Folklore and mythology

The Pleiades are a prominent sight in winter in the Northern Hemisphere, and are easily visible out to mid-Southern latitudes. They have been known since antiquity to cultures all around the world,[14] including the Celts, Hawaiians (who call them Makaliʻi[15]), Māori (who call them Matariki), Aboriginal Australians (from several traditions), the Persians (who called them پروین Parvīn or پروی Parvī)[16], the Arabs (who called them Thurayya[17]), the Chinese (who called them 昴 mǎo), the Quechua, the Japanese, the Maya, the Aztec, the Sioux, the Kiowa,[18][19] and the Cherokee. In Hinduism, the Pleiades are known as Krittika and are associated with the war-god Kartikeya. They are also mentioned three times in the Bible.