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.

                                2020 April 4
    [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest
                        resolution version available.

                            Venus and the Sisters
    Image Credit & [3]Copyright: [4]Fred Espenak ([5]Bifrost Astronomical
                                Observatory)

   Explanation: [6]After wandering about as far from the Sun on the sky as
   Venus can get, the brilliant evening star is crossing paths with the
   sister stars of the Pleiades cluster. Look west after sunset and you
   can share [7]the ongoing conjunction [8]with skygazers around the
   world. Taken on April 2, this celestial group photo captures the view
   from Portal, Arizona, USA. Even bright naked-eye Pleiades stars prove
   to be much fainter than Venus though. [9]Apparent in deeper telescopic
   images, the cluster's dusty surroundings and familiar bluish reflection
   nebulae aren't quite visible, while brighter Venus itself is almost
   overwhelming in the single exposure. And while Venus and the Sisters do
   look a little star-crossed, their spiky appearance is the
   [10]diffraction pattern caused by multiple leaves in the aperture of
   the telephoto lens. The last similar conjunction of Venus and Pleiades
   occurred [11]nearly 8 years ago.

                   Tomorrow's picture: color the universe
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    Authors & editors: [23]Robert Nemiroff ([24]MTU) & [25]Jerry Bonnell
                                 ([26]UMCP)
          NASA Official: Phillip Newman [27]Specific rights apply.
              [28]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
                A service of: [29]ASD at [30]NASA / [31]GSFC
                           & [32]Michigan Tech. U.

References

   1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
   2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2004/VenusM45-2020Apr02-105x.jpg
   3. http://astropixels.com/main/licensing.html
   4. http://astropixels.com/index.html
   5. http://astropixels.com/bifrost/bifrost.html
   6. https://www.nasa.gov/specials/nasaathome/index.html
   7. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap200402.html
   8. https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/photos-how-to-see-venus-pleaides-apr-2020-conjunction
   9. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap191107.html
  10. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diffraction_spike
  11. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap120407.html
  12. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap200403.html
  13. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
  14. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html
  15. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html
  16. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html
  18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss
  19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html
  20. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html
  21. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=200404
  22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap200405.html
  23. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  24. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  25. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  26. http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  27. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  28. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  29. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  30. https://www.nasa.gov/
  31. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  32. http://www.mtu.edu/