San Diego Reader

Hey:

I've always wondered about the Subaru six-star logo? What's the deal? Is it a constellation?

-- Tad, the net

It's a star cluster in the constellation Taurus. We call it the Pleiades. It's actually a seven-star cluster, but one isn't usually visible with the unaided eye. In Western mythology, we describe the cluster as sisters being chased through the sky by the constellation Orion, the Hunter. Is this the manufacturer's way of saying Subarus are good for picking up girls? In Japan the cluster is associated with times of sewing and reaping. Reaping heaps of American cash, no doubt. But the truth is, Subaru is one of five companies that banded together to form a group called Fuji Heavy Industries. Some poetic CEO picked the Pleiades as an appropriate symbol for the union.