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Credit: David Cortner
Explanation:
Venus still rules
the western skies after sunset as the
brilliant evening star.
While wandering the ecliptic
with its fellow naked-eye planets
earlier this month, it passed
near
the Pleiades star cluster,
providing a striking photo opportunity for earthbound skygazers.
Cataloged as M45, the
Pleiades stars make for
a lovely sight on their own,
often shown in long exposure images immersed in hazy
blue reflection nebulae.
In
this picture though, recorded on the evening of
April 3rd, brilliant Venus closes with the
Seven Sisters
and overwhelms the light from the delicate cosmic clouds.
The view offers a study in contrasts as Venus
appears about 700
times brighter than Alcyone, the
Pleiades
brightest star.
With Venus just over 5 light-minutes from Earth, Alcyone and the
other Pleiades cluster stars are about 400 light-years distant.
Formed out of the contracting nebula which gave birth to
the Sun, Venus is also roughly 4.5 billion years old.
The stars of the Pleiades are likely aged a mere hundred
million years.
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: Venus - pleiades - sky
Publications with words: Venus - pleiades - sky
See also: