1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Pleiades (astronomy)

PLEIADES, Atlantides or Vergiliae, in astronomy, a group of stars situated in the constellation Taurus. They are supposed to be referred to in the Old Testament (Job. ix. 9, xxxviii. 31). This group is particularly rich in bright stars, and is full of nebulosity, but there are fewer faint stars than in equal areas of the surrounding sky; the central star is Alcyone (3rd magnitude); Pleione and Atlas are also of the 3rd magnitude.