The Moon and Pleiades

The waxing crescent Moon and the open cluster Pleiades shared a small part of the night sky last Thursday as they came within 3 degrees of each other in the western sky. While close to the eyes of an observer on Earth, the two celestial objects are actually separated by more than 400 light-years. These alignments, also known as conjunctions, are visually stunning and occur throughout the year as the Earth, the Moon, and the planets speed through their respective orbits against the background of the wonders of the Milky Way.