identifying a star cluster/contellation??

[socaha]

pls excuse my lack of knowledge lol but Im really keen to find out what the smallish looking compact cluser is that can be seen in southern sky ( i have seen it in nz and aussie) Im useless with locations but it seemed to be not too far from orion and was a tightly compacted rather than spread out ( not like orion at all much more closely assembled) and is easy to see although not large?? iknow its proberly like asking where is the needle in the haystack i think it almost has a triangular shape although not in a triangle ...anyway if anyone has any idea what im dribbling on about i would love to know what this cluster is as i think its a awesome naked eye one to observe:P

[Terry B]

?pleiades in Taurus

[socaha]

thanks, I have the thirst to learn now lol but looking on the net i think your right

[Scorpius51]

Hi Megan

Ask all you like, you're in the right place!

To help you out, download Stellarium. It's a great piece of astro software, and it's free.

Cheers
John

[socaha]

thanks :) i have heard its good!!

[LewisM]

If it is triangle shaped, with a bright lower star, it's Hyades.

If compact and sort of cross shaped, Pleiades