I live in central NSW, Australia and currently in the night sky, there is, to the North, at 45 degree angle to the horizon and my location, around 9pm AEDST a small group of tiny stars. When you look carefully, there appear to be thousands of them, all clumped together. I have been observing this for years, and when have looked at a 'map' of the night sky, I can't identify it. To me, it could be a distant galaxy. What I can't get over, is a) How small they are, and b) How many there are, all appearing to be clumped together. I look for this, and also the 'saucepan', (Orion?), which is the 'square' with the small handle on it. Does anyone know what the huge number of tiny stars is called?
I suspect you're looking at the Pleiades Nebula (NGC1432).
If you have Stellarium installed, check it out. If not here's a link http://www.stellarium.org/
I live in central NSW, Australia and currently in the night sky, there is, to the North, at 45 degree angle to the horizon and my location, around 9pm AEDST a small group of tiny stars. When you look carefully, there appear to be thousands of them, all clumped together. I have been observing this for years, and when have looked at a 'map' of the night sky, I can't identify it. To me, it could be a distant galaxy. What I can't get over, is a) How small they are, and b) How many there are, all appearing to be clumped together. I look for this, and also the 'saucepan', (Orion?), which is the 'square' with the small handle on it. Does anyone know what the huge number of tiny stars is called?
Hi and to icenspace.
Are you discribing a visual view or through binoculars or telescope
Going by your position given I would say you are seeing the PLEIADES or seven sisters open cluster.
stareing at this object can give the impression of many more stars.
Close by is the HYADES open cluster with the Bright star Aldebaran at one end of a triangular shape cluster, all part of the Taurus constellation.
I hope that helps
Cheers
Definitely sounds like the Pleiades ( the Japanese name is Subaru, and yes the cars are named after it!) In darks skies you should be able to see 7-10 stars with naked eye without any probs and they seem to be surrounded by a haze4 which is the fainter stars in the cluster.
The 'saucepan' in Orion is formed by the 3 bright stars of Orions belt, which is the base of the pan, the handle is the sword of orion (M42 and surrounds. Personally I have never liked the 'saucepan' asterism, it trivialises the most magnificent patch of sky in the whole night sky IMHO.
Welcome to IIS.
I agree with the others, it is the Pleiades/Subaru/7 Sisters/ M45
It's a sweet little cluster, and if you take a long exposure, you'll notice the stars are surrounded with a beautiful blue haze.
Print it out on A3 if you can. Hold it over your head in the appropriate direction and see if you can identify the constellation Orion and Taurus. From there, you should be able to figure out if you are looking at M45 (Pleiades Cluster). The advantage of Skymap is that it is so basic that only easy naked eye objects are on it.
Also, you state you can see a large number of stars... I assume you are using binoculars or a telescope?
To all who replied, thank you for your guidance. I am looking at it unaided. I tend to just stop and look whenever outside doing something else, or going somewhere. Probably because it is so mind-boggling, because there's so much we just don't know. Yet if we did, we would probably have the answers to everything. Watched Stephen Hawkings rerun series on SBS. Time warped by gravity? Still trying to get my brain around that one. I do wear spectacles, am short-sighted. Optometrist said geography inside my left eye is unusual, light shone in forms an arc. She exclaimed 'Wow! Look at that!'. (Not what you want to hear, when an Optometrist is shining a light into your eye). Anyway, the group looks like a huge number of tiny lights, all flashing. I have trouble with telescopes and binoculars, can't see through them properly.
I assume your vision is corrected to 20/20 and not something better (I use contacts that correct me to 20/15 for Astronomy, i.e. over-powered).
If you are seeing "thousands of stars", then I will have to assume you are seeing something other than M45. However, M45 is the only major naked-eye cluster that would be at about 45 degress altitude at 9pm... so I guess we are back to M45...
BTW: Based on the desciption you gave, "tight", I'd eliminate the Hyades.
I looked on the maps, and then went to wikipedia, and yes, it is that
one. I recognised it from a photo, have been looking at it for years.
They said "The cluster core radius is about 8 light years and tidal radius is about 43 light years. The cluster contains over 1,000 statistically confirmed members, although this figure excludes unresolved binary stars.[18] It is dominated by young, hot blue stars, up to 14 of which can be seen with the naked eye depending on local observing conditions. The arrangement of the brightest stars is somewhat similar to Ursa Major and Ursa Minor. The total mass contained in the cluster is estimated to be about 800 solar masses.[18]
The cluster contains many brown dwarfs, which are objects with less than about 8% of the Sun's mass, not heavy enough for nuclear fusion reactions to start in their cores and become proper stars. They may constitute up to 25% of the total population of the cluster, although they contribute less than 2% of the total mass.[19] Astronomers have made great efforts to find and analyse brown dwarfs in the Pleiades and other young clusters, because they are still relatively bright and observable, while brown dwarfs in older clusters have faded and are much more difficult to study".
The cluster first caught my eye, because it seemed as if something had exploded, and there were a few large ones, but such a concentration of smaller ones, in what looked like such a small space, that it amazed me, and so I kept looking at it. As described earlier, maybe my staring at it, made it look that way, but when I see it, that is my natural response, for some reason. I just keep staring at it. Far as I know, my vision is below average, and just average with spectacles, but there is something odd about my left eye. It is stronger than my right one, not 'round' either. I am left-handed and the left side of my body is much stronger than the right. Anyway, for some reason that cluster is very special to me, and I cannot explain it. Perhaps I am just a fruitcake.
and 
to icenspace. 
