See the 'Seven Sisters' of the Pleiades swim in the light of a waxing moon at sunset tonight

A silvery waxing moon is shown to the right of a two-panel image with most of its right side illuminated by sunlight against a black sky, leaving only a small crescent wreathed in impenetrable shadow. Dark lunar seas and craters can be seen marking the lunar surface. A collection of blue-white stars are pictured to the left, surrounded by a diffuse blue glow against the dimmer starfield beyond, which is threaded with wispy clouds.

Look high above the southeastern horizon in the hours following sunset on Jan. 27 to see the waxing gibbous moon shine alongside the Pleiades open star cluster in the constellation Taurus.

At sunset, the 76%-lit moon will dominate the winter sky, with the Pleiades positioned less than 5 degrees to the right of the moon. Located about 440 light-years from Earth, the light we see from the Pleiades tonight began its journey in the late 1500s, long before the invention of the telescope! The soft glow cast by the roughly 1,000-strong stellar hive will become more apparent as dusk fades to night, though the reflected light of the waxing moon will make viewing it with the naked eye a greater challenge than on previous nights.