Electra (star)

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Electra is one of the nine brightest stars in the Pleiades star cluster, in the constellation of Taurus. The most visible stars in this group are named for the Seven Sisters of Greek mythology: Asterope, Merope, Electra, Maia, Taygete, Celaeno and Alcyone, along with their parents Atlas and Pleione. Electra is also referred to by its Flamsteed designation: 17 Tauri.

The star has an apparent brightness of 3.72, the third brightest of the stars in the group. Electra belongs to the spectral class B6III and is approximately 400 light years from the sun. Electra is one of the four Pleiades stars that is classed as a giant, one that is starting to expand as the internal hydrogen fuel in the core is exhausted.

Electra is occasionally occulted by other planets in our solar system. The last time this happened was on May 9, 1841, when it was occulted by Venus.

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