                        Astronomy Picture of the Day

    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
   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: Cayetana Saiz

   Explanation: Sometimes, the Moon visits the Pleiades. Technically, this
   means that the orbit of our Moon takes it directly in front of the
   famous Pleiades star cluster, which is far in the distance. The
   technical term for the event is an occultation, and the Moon is famous
   for its rare occultations of all planets and several well-known bright
   stars. The Moon's tilted and precessing orbit makes its occultations of
   the Seven Sisters star cluster bunchy, with the current epoch starting
   in 2023 continuing monthly until 2029. After that, though, the next
   occultation won't occur until 2042. Taken from Cantabria, Spain on
   April 1, the 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 iconic blue glow.

                Jigsaw Challenge: Astronomy Puzzle of the Day
                       Tomorrow's picture: cosmic jets
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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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                      A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
                           NASA Science Activation
                             & Michigan Tech. U.

