Moon, Venus, Pleiades on April 19
Photo by Chad Fust
Thursday, April 19, 2007.
The slender waxing crescent moon shines in the west shortly after sunset tonight, and resides quite close to two major celestial attractions: Venus, the brightest of all planets, and the Pleiades, the most celebrated of all star clusters.
Venus is easy to see, because it’s the brightest starlike object in the western twilight sky. The Pleiades is much dimmer than Venus, but it’s still readily identifiable. You’ll easily recognize the Pleiades as a tiny dipper–shaped pattern of six little stars, all wrapped in mist. The Pleiades is small but distinctive.
A few weeks from now, the Pleiades star cluster will disappear into the sun’s glare. The historic Zuni of New Mexico called the Pleiades their “Seed Stars.” They knew it was safe to plant seeds in spring once the Pleiades were no longer visible in evening dusk.
Unlike the Pleiades cluster, the moon and Venus don’t shine in the west on this date every year. The moon and Venus were considered “wanderers” by the early stargazers. But these worlds do exhibit regular cycles. On this date 19 years from now, the waxing crescent moon will return to almost the same place in the sky, right by the Pleiades cluster. As for Venus, it will return to virtually the same spot in the sky every 8 years.
So that’s the moon, Venus and Pleiades – tonight.
This evening, it’ll be easier to see the young waxing crescent moon (and her nearby companions: Venus and the Pleiades) from mid to far northern latitudes than at latitudes south of the equator. That’s because it’s now spring in the northern hemisphere. In springtime, the waxing crescent moon tends to stand most directly above the sun at sunset. Therefore, in spring, the young crescent moon is higher in the sky at dusk, and stays out longer after dark.
In the southern hemisphere, where autumn now predominates, the young crescent moon tends to stand to the side of the setting sun. Thus, an autumn sunset finds the young crescent moon hovering close to the horizon, and setting shortly after sundown.
Setting times of the sun, moon and Venus — Old Farmer’s Almanac
Setting times of the sun, moon and Venus — the US Naval Observatory
