#ngc 1432

[quiltofstars]

Maia (20 Tauri) and the Maia Nebula (NGC 1432) // Michel

Maia is the fourth-brightest star in the Pleiades. It, like all of its sisters, is a blue-white giant star about 444 light years away. Maia is one of the seven daughters of Atlas and Pleione in Greek mythology. She is the oldest of her sisters and in one of the myths, she gives birth to Hermes, the messenger god, by none other than Zeus.