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Credit & Copyright: B. Magrath
Explanation:
Clouds scatter the faint orange rays of the
setting sun in the
foreground of this breathtaking photograph from the
summit
of Mauna Kea, Hawaii.
Taken on April 7th, this skyscape features a dramatic lunar and
planetary alignment.
An overexposed crescent
moon dominates the celestial scene, but the
bright "star" just below and to its right is
Saturn while
further below Saturn is a close pairing of brilliant
Jupiter and a fainter, yellowish
Mars.
Red giant star
Aldebaran is
almost directly above the moon near the top of the image and the
bright blue stars of the
Pleiades
cluster are visible about midway up
and to the right of the moon-Aldebaran line.
The good news is that
planetary
alignments like this one do not
portend
disasters, are relatively common, and can clearly make
inspirational viewing for casual stargazers and astronomers alike.
The
bad news is that the world is not going to end because of the
highly publicized
planetary
alignment occurring tomorrow, May 5th -- so you probably will have to
go to work!
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: Jupiter - Mars - planet - Saturn - Moon - clouds - planetary alignment
Publications with words: Jupiter - Mars - planet - Saturn - Moon - clouds - planetary alignment
See also: