Electra — Star in Taurus

Electra, 17 Tauri, is a B6 III blue giant about 405 light-years away, another prominent member of the Pleiades. At magnitude 3.70 it is the third-brightest Pleiad. Electra is a fast-rotating Be-type candidate star, with spectra occasionally showing weak emission lines from a circumstellar gas disk. Its mass is about 5 solar masses.

Electra forms the western edge of the Pleiades pattern. In binoculars it is one of the six-to-seven naked-eye-visible cluster members. A 4-inch telescope at low power places Electra in a field full of surrounding fainter cluster members — a classic wide-field view of M45. Best observed October through March.

Electra is named for another of the seven Pleiades of Greek myth — mother of Dardanus, the legendary founder of Troy. Her name means "shining amber." According to Aratus, Electra withdrew from the cluster in grief after the fall of Troy, supposedly accounting for the sometimes-reported difficulty of seeing all seven sisters with the naked eye.