The constellation Taurus is home to several impressive open clusters. Undoubtedly, the best known among these is magnificent M45, the Pleiades. This sprawling complex isn't in that league, not by any stretch, but does make a fine presentation at low power in my 10-inch Starfinder. The sketch at left renders a 36X view, which encompasses nearly 1.5-degrees of sky. The 6.4 magnitude cluster is centered in the sketch and occupies a 45' diameter area. Eighty-eight stars are shown in the drawing. The brightest include 7.5 magnitude HD 30179 and 6.0 magnitude HD 30197. This pair, separated by just 5', is stationed 12' inside the field boundary to the south. Look for NGC 1647 about 3.5 degrees northeast of 0.9 magnitude Aldebaran.