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Credit & Copyright: Giorgia Hofer
Explanation:
Sunlit arms of a
crescent moon
seem to embrace the faint lunar
night side in this dramatic celestial scene from planet Earth.
The single telephoto exposure tracking the sky was captured on
the night of April 19,
when a two day old Moon was near perigee in its elliptical orbit.
On that date, the young Moon was also close on the sky to the lovely
Pleiades Star Cluster.
With the moonlight dimmed by clouds the Pleiades
sister stars gather
below the Moon's bright crescent, seen through a faint but colorful
lunar corona.
The lunar night side is illuminated
by earthshine,
sunlight reflected from the Earth itself.
The Moon's ashen glow,
also known as the "old moon in the young moon's arms",
tends to be brighter in the northern hemisphere spring.
And for now, the Moon's orbit takes it near the
Pleiades
stars each month in planet Earth's sky,
though their close conjunctions are easiest to
see when the Moon
is near a crescent phase.
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January February March April |
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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: pleiades
Publications with words: pleiades
See also:
- APOD: 2026 March 2 Á The Dusty Surroundings of Orion and the Pleiades
- APOD: 2026 February 23 Á Pleiades: The Seven Sisters Star Cluster
- Pleiades from Planet Earth
- APOD: 2025 August 25 Á The Meteor and the Star Cluster
- APOD: 2025 July 8 Á The Pleiades in Red and Blue
- APOD: 2025 April 8 Á Moon Visits Sister Stars
- APOD: 2025 March 5 Á Seven Sisters versus California