Starlight reflecting off the dust around the cluster forms a reflective nebula. Although the cluster is visible with the naked eye, the nebula is not. A telescope is needed to be able to see the nebula.

Besides its name "Pleiades", this cluster is also commonly known as the Seven Sisters. In Japan, it is called the Subaru.

This image was taken from a very dark site. But the exposures were to short and too few to do justice to the nebula. The later image shown below was done with a CCD camera and an autoguider is much better.