Explanation:
An old crescent Moon shares the
eastern sky over
Menton, France
with the sister stars
of the Pleiades cluster in this early
morning skyscape
recorded just last Friday, June 23rd.
(Bright Venus was also near the eastern horizon, but
is not pictured here.)
Astronomical images of the
well-known Pleiades often show the
cluster's alluring blue reflection nebulae, but they are washed out here
by the bright moonlight.
Still, while the
crescent Moon is overexposed,
surface features can be seen on the dim lunar night
side illuminated by earthshine - light from sunlit planet
Earth.
Of course, you can spot a young
crescent Moon in the early evening
sky tonight.
Having left the Pleiades behind, a lovely lunar crescent now
appears in the west,
lining up with planets Mars, Saturn,
and Mercury along the solar system's
ecliptic plane.
Scho en krasse Übergang vo de Sunnesite vom Mond zu de Schattesite. Gseht d'Erde vom Mond us gseh au so us, oder isch bi üs de Übergang weicher wäg de Atmosphäre wo uf em Mond fählt?
