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© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
E. Boutsikas et al. (eds.), Advancing Cultural Astronomy, Historical & Cultural
Astronomy, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-64606-6_11
Why Are There Seven Sisters?
Ray P. Norris and Barnaby R. M. Norris
1 Introduction
The Pleiades, or Seven Sisters, is an open stellar cluster of hot, blue, young stars,
which were formed about 115–125 million years ago (Stauffer, Schultz, &
Kirkpatrick, 1998; Ushomirsky, Matzner, Brown, et al., 1998), and they are still surrounded by a blue reflection nebula. The cluster is called the “Seven Sisters” in
many cultures, with a remarkable similarity in the stories surrounding it.
The importance of the Pleiades in many cultures has been listed by several
authors (e.g. Allen, 1899; Avilin, 1998; Burnham Jr., 1978; Dempsey, 2009; Krupp,
1994; Kyselka, 1993; Sparavigna, 2008), from the first written record by the Chinese
in 2357 BC through to the present day. In most cultures, the Pleiades are seen as
seven young women, or ‘daughters’ (Krupp, 1994). The oldest representation of the
Pleiades is thought to be on the Nebra disk, found in Germany, and constructed
around 1600 BC (Ehser, Borg, & Pernicka, 2011), but that representation consists of
six stars arranged symmetrically around a seventh, and is therefore probably symbolic rather than a literal picture of the Pleiades.
R. P. Norris (*)
Western Sydney University, Penrith South, NSW, Australia
CSIRO Astronomy & Space Science, Epping, NSW, Australia
B. R. M. Norris
Sydney Institute for Astronomy, School of Physics, University of Sydney,
Camperdown, NSW, Australia
Sydney Astrophotonic Instrumentation Laboratories, University of Sydney,
Camperdown, NSW, Australia
AAO-USyd, School of Physics, University of Sydney, Camperdown, NSW, Australia
e-mail: barnaby.norris@sydney.edu.au
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
E. Boutsikas et al. (eds.), Advancing Cultural Astronomy, Historical & Cultural
Astronomy, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-64606-6_11
Why Are There Seven Sisters?
Ray P. Norris and Barnaby R. M. Norris
1 Introduction
The Pleiades, or Seven Sisters, is an open stellar cluster of hot, blue, young stars,
which were formed about 115–125 million years ago (Stauffer, Schultz, &
Kirkpatrick, 1998; Ushomirsky, Matzner, Brown, et al., 1998), and they are still surrounded by a blue reflection nebula. The cluster is called the “Seven Sisters” in
many cultures, with a remarkable similarity in the stories surrounding it.
The importance of the Pleiades in many cultures has been listed by several
authors (e.g. Allen, 1899; Avilin, 1998; Burnham Jr., 1978; Dempsey, 2009; Krupp,
1994; Kyselka, 1993; Sparavigna, 2008), from the first written record by the Chinese
in 2357 BC through to the present day. In most cultures, the Pleiades are seen as
seven young women, or ‘daughters’ (Krupp, 1994). The oldest representation of the
Pleiades is thought to be on the Nebra disk, found in Germany, and constructed
around 1600 BC (Ehser, Borg, & Pernicka, 2011), but that representation consists of
six stars arranged symmetrically around a seventh, and is therefore probably symbolic rather than a literal picture of the Pleiades.
R. P. Norris (*)
Western Sydney University, Penrith South, NSW, Australia
CSIRO Astronomy & Space Science, Epping, NSW, Australia
B. R. M. Norris
Sydney Institute for Astronomy, School of Physics, University of Sydney,
Camperdown, NSW, Australia
Sydney Astrophotonic Instrumentation Laboratories, University of Sydney,
Camperdown, NSW, Australia
AAO-USyd, School of Physics, University of Sydney, Camperdown, NSW, Australia
e-mail: barnaby.norris@sydney.edu.au