• Matariki is the brightest open constellation in the night sky.

  • Matariki is found in the constellation Taurus.

  • You can see Matariki without a telescope or binoculars.

  • Matariki is one of the closest star clusters to Earth.

  • Matariki is approximately 150 million years old making it a young star cluster.

  • Matariki is approximately 440 light years away.

  • Stars can live up to 5 billion years (if I were to have that much money I would be rich!!!!)

  • The car manufacturer Subaru got its name from the Japanese myth for Matariki

  • Millions of other cultures in the world (not just the Maori) have different stories about Matariki

  • Matariki is an open star cluster

  • Out of those 500 stars in Matariki only 14 are visible to the naked eye

  • The scientific name for Matariki is Messier 45 or M45

  • Most of the stars in the Matariki are spread across 12 light years of distance

  • Matariki is also the celebration of the Maori New Year

  • The stars in Matariki have a surface temperature of 10000-30000 celsius

  • The dust around Matariki is the star dust left over from their creation

  • If the blue stars in Matariki were to get close enough they could merge together creating an even bigger star