Pleiades

The Pleiades star cluster will make an appearance in the Northern skies tonight above the smiling crescent Moon.  The Pleiades consists of 7 stars,often referred to as the "Seven Sisters", however only 6 are visible to the naked eye.  Recent day observations show that this open star cluster is actually made up of several hundred stars intertwined in an elaborate composition of dreamy-like nebulosity.

Image Robert Gendler

Myth and legend surround this star cluster in almost every culture on the planet.  Interestingly, most of them consist of the cluster being seven sisters.  We see this in Greek mythology and Native American legend.

Image Marc Leon

The Pleiades, 1885
Elihu Vedder
Image Met Museum

Also termed as the "Seed Stars", the movement of the stars of the Pleiades marks the beginning of farming season and many civilizations utilized it as an agriculture calendar.  The Great Pyramid at Giza, the temple at Teotihuacan in Mexico and many other temples, stone circles and rock formations in other places around the world have been built in alignment with the Pleiades.