Astronomy Picture of the Day [1]Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2025 April 8 [2]A dark night sky is shown with clouds on the left. Just above center in blue is the Pleiades star cluster. Just below the Pleiades is a crescent moon, but bright enough so that you can see not only the brightly lit crescent but, more faintly, the rest of the Moon. Please see the explanation for more detailed information. Moon Visits Sister Stars Image Credit: [3]Cayetana Saiz Explanation: Sometimes, the Moon visits the Pleiades. Technically, this means that the orbit of [4]our Moon takes it directly in front of the famous [5]Pleiades star cluster, which is far in the distance. The technical term for the event is an [6]occultation, and the Moon is famous for its rare occultations [7]of [8]all [9]planets and several well-known [10]bright stars. The Moon's tilted and [11]precessing orbit makes its occultations of the [12]Seven Sisters star cluster bunchy, with the current epoch [13]starting in 2023 continuing monthly until 2029. After that, though, the next occultation [14]won't occur until 2042. Taken from [15]Cantabria, [16]Spain on April 1, the [17]featured image is a composite where previous exposures of the Pleiades from the same camera and location were digitally added to the last image to bring up the star cluster's [18]iconic blue glow. Jigsaw Challenge: [19]Astronomy Puzzle of the Day Tomorrow's picture: cosmic jets __________________________________________________________________ [20]< | [21]Archive | [22]Submissions | [23]Index | [24]Search | [25]Calendar | [26]RSS | [27]Education | [28]About APOD | [29]Discuss | [30]> __________________________________________________________________ Authors & editors: [31]Robert Nemiroff ([32]MTU) & [33]Jerry Bonnell ([34]UMCP) NASA Official: Amber Straughn [35]Specific rights apply. [36]NASA Web Privacy, [37]Accessibility, [38]Notices; A service of: [39]ASD at [40]NASA / [41]GSFC, [42]NASA Science Activation & [43]Michigan Tech. U. References 1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2504/PleiadesMoon_Saiz_6000.jpg 3. https://www.instagram.com/caye.wildvisuals/ 4. https://science.nasa.gov/moon/ 5. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap241209.html 6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occultation 7. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap200621.html 8. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap190409.html 9. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250115.html 10. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap170505.html 11. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_precession 12. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap240929.html 13. https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-news/observing-news/watch-the-moon-occult-the-pleiades-spica-too/ 14. https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https://preview.redd.it/lonely-sad-cat-v0-gbl9nva813ne1.jpeg?width=640&crop=smart&auto=webp&s=79d816671a1bb09699263c4c3e83ba9f5df9f133 15. https://youtu.be/LH3qwMH22bo 16. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spain 17. https://www.instagram.com/p/DH_ptItogQl/ 18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap210406.html 19. https://www.scigames.org/apps/webjigsaw2/index.php 20. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250407.html 21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html 23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html 24. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search 25. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html 26. https://apod.com/feed.rss 27. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html 28. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html 29. https://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=250408 30. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250409.html 31. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html 32. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ 33. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html 34. http://www.astro.umd.edu/ 35. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 36. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html 37. https://www.nasa.gov/general/accessibility/ 38. https://www.nasa.gov/privacy/ 39. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 40. https://www.nasa.gov/ 41. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ 42. https://science.nasa.gov/learners 43. http://www.mtu.edu/