July 2, 2024: Look for a Moon-Pleiades conjunction in the eastern sky before sunrise.
Morning Moon-Pleiades Conjunction
An hour before sunrise, the crescent moon appears near the Pleiades star cluster, also known as the Seven Sisters. The thin crescent moon, 15% illuminated, is about 20° up in the east-northeast. It might be blocked by trees or buildings in the neighborhood. Find a clear horizon in that direction.
This is the best grouping of the crescent moon and the Pleiades until April 1, 2025, when in the evening sky, the lunar crescent is 2.5° above the star cluster. Each month the moon passes by, but the moon phase is thicker and brighter until next spring.
The Pleiades star cluster is 3.7° to the moon’s lower left. At this altitude, the Pleiades might be challenging to see in morning twilight. A binocular improves the view.
When the Pleiades cluster is high in the sky, many sky watchers see six or seven stars without the binocular’s optical assist. A few dozen are visible through the binocular.
This morning with the optical aid, the lunar crescent and the Pleiades’ stars appear in the same field of view, a lovely sight!
Earthshine
Look again this morning for earthshine on the night section of the moon. This soft light is reflected from Earth’s features.
The Pleiades cluster is comprised of many bright blue stars. Shining from a distance of 410 light years, the cluster appears too large to fit into the typical telescopic eyepiece and a binocular provides the best view. Some sky watchers have low-power, wide-angle view telescopes that are known as rich field telescopes (RFT) that can take in the entire cluster and low visibility celestial wonders.
Moon-Pleiades at Next Lunation
When the moon moves through this region of the sky during the next lunation, its phase will be larger, and it is too far away from the Pleiades to fully fit within the same binocular field as the entire star cluster.
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