For many, this time of year is a time for reflection – to think about the year that was, and ponder the year to come. So it might be a good time to ponder a reflection in the stars – a giant cloud of gas and dust that’s reflecting the light of some hot young stars.

The stars belong to the Pleiades – a cluster of perhaps a couple of thousand stars. The cluster probably is about a hundred million years old – quite young as stars go.

The cluster began as a giant cloud of gas and dust. The cloud split into smaller clumps, which then collapsed to make stars. Radiation and winds from the newborn stars would have blown away most of the remaining dust and gas, but not all. And for a long time, that’s what astronomers thought they were seeing in the Pleiades. Pictures reveal wisps of blue mingling with the stars – what appeared to be leftover star-making material.

But that’s not the case. The wisps of material belong to a cloud that’s not related to the Pleiades – they just happen to line up in the same direction. Dust grains in the cloud reflect the light of the hot, blue stars in the cluster – reflections from some beautiful stars.

Look for the Pleiades high in the east at nightfall. The cluster looks like a tiny dipper. It stands above the brilliant planet Jupiter and the bright star Aldebaran. But you need to take a long-exposure image to capture the reflection of the Pleiades in the passing cloud.

Script by Damond Benningfield