64 ASTRONOMY • APRIL 2021
READER GALLERY
Cosmic portraits
- SEVEN SISTERS SOUTH
The Southern Pleiades (IC 2602),
also known as the Theta Carinae
Cluster, is the third-brightest open
cluster in the sky. It shines at
magnitude 1.9 and covers an area
50' across. It lies some 550 light-
years away in the constellation
Carina the Keel. • Nicholas Clarke - DARKNESS OVER LIGHT
This image shows the full extent
of the Great Rift through Cygnus
to the Elephant Trunk Nebula at
the bottom left. Note the complete
Veil Nebula at right. This 31-image
mosaic is the result of 258 hours
of exposures collected through
Hydrogen-alpha, Sulfur-II, and
Oxygen-III filters. • Alistair Symon
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