April 11, 2020
Billions of years of cosmic evolution — the birth and death of stars, the slow coalescence of planets, the patient unfolding of life — all...
Venus and the Pleiades in April
Birthday · April 11, 2020
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APOD published April 11, 2020. Credit: Antonio Finazzi. A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.
Shared around world in early April skies Venus, our brilliant evening star, wandered across the face of the lovely Pleiades star cluster. This timelapse image follows the path of the inner planet during the beautiful conjunction showing its daily approach to the stars of the Seven Sisters. From a composite of tracked exposures made with a telephoto lens, the field of view is also appropriate for binocular equipped skygazers. While the star cluster and planet were easily seen with the naked-eye, the spiky appearance of our sister planet in the picture is the result of a diffraction pattern produced by the camera's lens. All images were taken from a home garden in Chiuduno, Bergamo, Lombardy, Italy, fortunate in good weather and clear spring nights. Notable APOD Submissions: Gallery of Venus passing in front of the Pleiades
Image credit: Antonio Finazzi