Pleiades

Keen star gazers will have recognised that our logo incorporates the constellation of Pleiades.

What is Pleiades

Keen star gazers will have recognised that our logo incorporates the constellation of Pleiades. Pleiades is a constellation that is recognised the world over, with many cultures having associated mythologies. The constellation has a number of stars, but some are not visible to the naked eye. In Greek mythology Pleiades is named the Seven Sisters: Sterope, Merope, Electra, Maia, Taygete, Celaeno and Alcyone along with their parents Atlas and Pleione^[1]. The stars, in western tradition, make up the constellation of Taurus^[2]. The earliest know depiction of the Pleiades is an artefact known as the Nebra Sky Disc (c. 1600 BC), from the Germanic Bronze age, but the Babylonian star catalogues also recognise Pleiades^[3].

Pleiades is a prominent sight in the northern hemisphere winter, but it is also easily visible in the southern hemisphere. Cultures from around the world including the Celts, Maori, Persians and Arabs, the Chinese, Japanese, the Mayan and Aztec from South America, as well as the Sioux and Cherokee people have mythologies concerning this constellation^[4]. Galileo Galilei was the first astronomer to view the Pleiades through a telescope; he published his observations in 1610 recording 36 stars, most too dim to see with the naked eye^[5].

By far the most ancient myths concerning Pleiades belong to the Australian Aboriginal people, where the constellation figures in the Dreamings of several language groups^[6]. As homage to their ancient culture and observations, we have chosen Pleiades as our emblem, linking the ancient past of our continent to our future.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleiades
[2] https://www.space.com/17101-taurus-constellation.html
[3] https://www.bbc.co.uk/science/horizon/2004/stardisctrans.shtml
[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleiades
[5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleiades
[6] Andrews, Munya. 2018 The Seven Sisters of the Pleiades: Stories from around the World. Spinifex Print Australia; atnf.csiro.au

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