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. 2026 April 29 [2]The crescent Moon, Venus, and the Pleiades travel across the twilight sky. The silhouettes of a few beach flowers decorate the foreground. The Moon, Venus, and the Pleiades Image Credit & Copyright: [3]Gianni Tumino Text: [4]Keighley Rockcliffe ([5]NASA [6]GSFC, [7]UMBC CSST, [8]CRESST II) Explanation: No, Earth did not recently acquire six more moons! [9]Today’s APOD is a combination of images following the Moon, Venus, and [10]the Pleiades across a southern Sicilian sky as twilight turned to evening on April 19. From 2023 to 2029, the Pleiades' and the Moon “[11]visit" each other once per month due to the Pleiades' location in [12]the ecliptic plane. April 2026 saw the celestial alignment of their visit with [13]Venus. About six stars in the Pleiades cluster ([14]Messier 45) are typically visible with the unaided eye. Due to the cluster’s visibility across the world, there are many myths and legends across cultures associated with the Pleiades. [15]The Haudenosaunee people of North America, [16]for example, say that seven boys danced so enthusiastically that they lifted off into the sky. [17]Astronomers recently found thousands more Pleiades members, showing that after thousands of years of gazing upon this cluster, there is yet more to learn about the Pleiades. Tomorrow's picture: Waves on Titan __________________________________________________________________ [18]< | [19]Archive | [20]Submissions | [21]Index | [22]Search | [23]Calendar | [24]RSS | [25]Education | [26]About APOD | [27]Discuss | [28]> __________________________________________________________________ Authors & editors: [29]Robert Nemiroff ([30]MTU) & [31]Jerry Bonnell ([32]UMCP) NASA Official: Amber Straughn [33]Specific rights apply. [34]NASA Web Privacy, [35]Accessibility, [36]Notices; A service of: [37]ASD at [38]NASA / [39]GSFC, [40]NASA Science Activation & [41]Michigan Tech. U. References 1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2604/moon_venus_pleiades.jpg 3. https://www.facebook.com/giovanni.tumino.58/ 4. https://kerockcliffe.com/ 5. https://science.gsfc.nasa.gov/sci/bio/keighley.e.rockcliffe 6. https://www.nasa.gov/goddard/ 7. https://csst.umbc.edu/directory/ 8. https://cresst2.umd.edu/ 9. https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1Caa7mfotN/ 10. https://earthsky.org/favorite-star-patterns/pleiades-star-cluster-enjoys-worldwide-renown/ 11. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250408.html 12. https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/definition-ecliptic-what-is-the-ecliptic/ 13. https://science.nasa.gov/venus/ 14. https://science.nasa.gov/mission/hubble/science/explore-the-night-sky/hubble-messier-catalog/messier-45/ 15. https://www.haudenosauneeconfederacy.com/who-we-are/ 16. https://nightskytourist.com/pleiades/ 17. https://science.nasa.gov/missions/tess/nasas-tess-spacecraft-triples-size-of-pleiades-star-cluster/ 18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260428.html 19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 20. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html 21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html 22. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search 23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html 24. https://apod.com/feed.rss 25. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html 26. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html 27. https://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=260429 28. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260430.html 29. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html 30. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ 31. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html 32. http://www.astro.umd.edu/ 33. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 34. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html 35. https://www.nasa.gov/general/accessibility/ 36. https://www.nasa.gov/privacy/ 37. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 38. https://www.nasa.gov/ 39. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ 40. https://science.nasa.gov/learners 41. http://www.mtu.edu/