The small things and the starry sky

 The small and important things on the ground and the starry sky.

Glowing Fungi and Big Dipper

Plants fluoresce under UV light primarily because of chlorophyll and specific chemical compounds (like polyphenols) within their tissues that absorb invisible ultraviolet radiation and re-emit it as visible light. As always, I love photographing the small alongside the vastness of the sky—yet, in the end, everything is merely relative.

M45 Plejades the open cluster

The open star cluster the Pleiades (M45) is visible to the naked eye and resembles a miniature Big Dipper. The Pleiades—also known as Messier 45 (M45) or the Seven Sisters—is one of the most famous and easily visible open star clusters in the night sky. Located in the constellation Taurus, it is the Messier object closest to Earth.

Distance from Earth: Approximately 444 light-years.

An open star cluster surrounded by a reflection nebula.

Very young by cosmic standards—around 100 million years old.

Number of stars: Contains over 1,000 confirmed stars in total, though only a few are visible to the naked eye. It appears in all the images.