APOD: 2026 April 29 Б The Moon, Venus, and the Pleiades
Explanation:
No, Earth did not recently acquire six more moons!
TodayБs APOD
is a combination of images following the Moon, Venus, and
the
Pleiades
across a southern Sicilian sky
as twilight turned to evening on April 19.
From 2023 to 2029, the Pleiades' and the Moon
Б
visit"
each other once per month due to the Pleiades' location in
the
ecliptic plane.
April 2026 saw the celestial alignment of their visit with
Venus.
About six stars in the Pleiades cluster
(Messier
45)
are typically visible with the unaided eye. Due to the clusterБs visibility across
the world, there are many myths and legends across cultures associated with the Pleiades.
The Haudenosaunee
people
of North America,
for example,
say that seven boys danced so enthusiastically that they lifted off into the sky.
Astronomers
recently found thousands more Pleiades members,
showing that after thousands of years of gazing upon this cluster, there is yet more
to learn about the Pleiades.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
