September 3, 2024
Your birthday is not just a date on a calendar. It is the yearly return of a moment when the universe became more observant, more feeling,...
Quarter Moon and Sister Stars
Birthday · September 3, 2024
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APOD published September 3, 2024. Credit: Alan Dyer, TWAN. A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.
Nine days ago, two quite different sky icons were imaged rising together. Specifically, Earth's Moon shared the eastern sky with the sister stars of the Pleiades cluster, as viewed from Alberta, Canada. Astronomical images of the well-known Pleiades often show the star cluster's alluring blue reflection nebulas, but here they are washed-out by the orange moonrise sky. The half-lit Moon, known as a quarter moon, is overexposed, although the outline of the dim lunar night side can be seen by illuminating earthshine, light first reflected from the Earth. The featured image is a composite of eight successive exposures with brightnesses adjusted to match what the human eye would see. The Moon passes nearly -- or directly -- in front of the Pleaides once a month.
Image credit: Alan Dyer, TWAN