Our closest planetary neighbor, Venus, passed near the Pleiades, an open star cluster in early April 2020. This alignment was a stunning sight with the naked eye as well as with any magnification. Just this week Venus and our Moon aligned for another great show - if you had a cloudless view. A host of comets were also predicted to offer a sky show this year but two have fizzled as they rounded the sun. However, there is another promising ice ball (Comet NEOWISE (C/2020 F3) on its way and may be seen in the northern hemisphere during mid-July. We will see.
Rising in the east during early evening is an open star cluster called the Pleiades, or Messier 45, in the constellation Taurus. In olden times this bed of blue white young stars (middle top in photo) was often called the Seven Sisters and considered a test of good eyes to resolve the stars. Actually there are far more than seven stars in the cluster - click here. North American nighttime viewers can easily view the Pleiades cluster all winter long - rising just ahead of Orion the hunter. Note the double contrail visible above the roof line. Interesting. Know that.
