Towards a VLBA Resolution of the Pleiades Distance Controversy
Towards a VLBA Resolution of the Pleiades Distance Controversy
Carl Melis (UC San Diego), Mark J. Reid (Harvard/CfA), John R. Stauffer (SSC/IPAC/CalTech), Amy Mioduszewski (NRAO), Geoffrey Bower (UC-Berkeley)
The Pleiades open cluster is the cornerstone of a great deal of stellar astrophysics. Nevertheless, it is the focus of the so-called 'Pleiades Distance Controversy'. This group proposes VLBA+GBT parallax measurements to definitively determine the distance to this cluster, and thus address issues ranging from the Hipparcos controversy to fundamental stellar astrophysics.
