Why is the Hyades Cluster important for building up a catalog of the true luminosities of main- sequence stars?
A)It is an extremely bright star cluster.
B)It is an old globular cluster whose age we can determine very accurately by measuring its main- sequence turn- off point.
C)It contains many Cepheid variable stars that can be used to determine its distance.
D)It is close enough to us that the distance to its stars can be found by stellar parallax.
E)It's a cluster that has been photographed over many decades, so we know how the stars vary in brightness.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The Hyades Cluster is important because it is one of the closest open star clusters to Earth, allowing astronomers to measure the distances to its stars using stellar parallax. This provides a reliable way to determine their true luminosities, which is crucial for calibrating the luminosities of main-sequence stars in general.

Why Is the Hyades Cluster Important for Building Up a Catalog