Venus and the Pleiades

When the sun goes down tonight, step outside and look west. Brilliant Venus and the delicate Pleiades are almost side-by-side. Mohammad Taher Pilevar of Hamedan, Iran, took this picture just a few hours ago:

"On a cold windy night, the gathering of Venus and the Pleiades was a beautiful scene," he says.

The view will improve in the nights ahead as the planet and the star cluster draw even closer together. They'll be at their best on Wednesday, April 11th, when only 2.5o degrees of arc lie between them, and you can eclipse the pair with the tip of your thumb held at arm's length. Don't miss it!

finder chart

more images: from Mila Zinkova of San Francisco, California

Source