Pleiades (Greek mythology) Hesperides, nymphs of the morning star. After Atlas was forced to carry the heavens on his shoulders, Orion began to pursue all of the Pleiades, and Zeus transformed them first into doves, and then into stars to comfort their father. The constellation of Orion is said to still pursue them across the night sky. One of the most memorable myths involving the Pleiades is the story of how these sisters literally became stars, their "catasterism". According to some versions of the tale, all seven sisters committed suicide because they were so saddened by either the fate of their father, Atlas,
Ultimate fate of the universe of dark energy, a flat universe expands forever but at a continually decelerating rate, with expansion asymptotically approaching zero. With dark energy, the expansion rate of the universe initially slows down, due to the effect of gravity, but eventually increases. The ultimate fate of the universe is the same as an open universe. The fate of the universe is determined by its density. The preponderance of evidence to date, based on measurements of the rate of expansion and the mass density, favors a universe that will continue to expand indefinitely, resulting in the "Big Freeze" scenario below. However, observations are