Tonight

Crescent moon by star clusters, April 4 and 5 evenings

Dots in V shape on left, tight cluster of dots on right, crescent moon sliding between.
On April 4 and 5, the crescent moon visits the famous star clusters of Taurus the Bull. Look west after sunset. Illustration via John Jardine Goss.

A beautiful waxing crescent moon passes through the stars of Taurus the Bull on April 4 and 5, 2022. It splits the Hyades and Pleiades star clusters. The Pleiades star cluster has a tiny dipper shape, while the Hyades forms a large V and is famous for its reddish star Aldebaran.

On April 4, the crescent moon is still fairly slender, just 14% lit. It’s coming out of new phase, which was on April 1 at 1:24 am CST. The Pleiades is to the moon’s upper right, while the Hyades and red Aldebaran is to the upper left. On April 5, the moon is a thicker crescent and has climbed higher above the pair from the perspective of North America and the Western Hemisphere. For those in parts of the Eastern Hemisphere, say, Singapore or Sydney, Australia, you’ll see the moon pass precisely between the two clusters in darkness on April 5.

Bottom line: You can spot the crescent moon in Taurus between the Pleiades star cluster and the Hyades star cluster, home to the red star Aldebaran.

Read more about the planets in April 2022

Posted 
April 3, 2022
 in 
Tonight

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Kelly Kizer Whitt

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