Astronomy Picture of the Day

   [1]Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                                2025 April 30
   [2]The featured image shows a night sky over a distant hill. The night
       sky has three bright objects: a crescent moon, the planet Venus
   (highest), and the planet Saturn. Taken together, the moon and planets
    make a happy face icon. Please see the explanation for more detailed
                                information.

                    A Happy Sky over Bufa Hill in Mexico
                 Image Credit & Copyright: [3]Daniel Korona

   Explanation: Sometimes, the sky itself seems to smile. A few days ago,
   visible over much of the world, an unusual superposition of our Moon
   with the planets [4]Venus and [5]Saturn created just such an [6]iconic
   facial expression. Specifically, a crescent Moon appeared to make a
   [7]happy face on the night sky when paired with seemingly nearby
   planets. Pictured is the scene as it appeared over [8]Zacatecas,
   [9]México, with distinctive [10]Bufa Hill in the foreground. On the far
   right and farthest in the distance is the [11]planet Saturn.
   Significantly closer and visible to Saturn's upper left is [12]Venus,
   the brightest planet on the sky. Just above the central horizon is
   [13]Earth's Moon in a [14]waning crescent phase. To create this
   gigantic icon, the crescent moon phase must be [15]smiling in the
   correct direction.

       Dial-A-Moon: [16]Find the Moon phase on your birthday this year
                   Tomorrow's picture: Mercury's messenger
     __________________________________________________________________

      [17]< | [18]Archive | [19]Submissions | [20]Index | [21]Search |
   [22]Calendar | [23]RSS | [24]Education | [25]About APOD | [26]Discuss |
                                    [27]>
     __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: [28]Robert Nemiroff ([29]MTU) & [30]Jerry Bonnell
                                 ([31]UMCP)
          NASA Official: Amber Straughn [32]Specific rights apply.
            [33]NASA Web Privacy, [34]Accessibility, [35]Notices;
                A service of: [36]ASD at [37]NASA / [38]GSFC,
                         [39]NASA Science Activation
                           & [40]Michigan Tech. U.

References

   1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
   2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2504/HappySkyMexico_Korona_1358.jpg
   3. mailto: dakoko_minera at live dot com dot ar
   4. https://science.nasa.gov/venus/
   5. https://science.nasa.gov/saturn/facts/
   6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smiley
   7. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap171112.html
   8. https://youtu.be/GvCIXH1AKoE
   9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexico
  10. https://youtu.be/0zHHG4RpfYM?t=56
  11. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap200419.html
  12. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap210317.html
  13. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap190717.html
  14. https://moon.nasa.gov/resources/54/phases-of-the-moon/
  15. https://media.tenor.com/5Wox2TQlBowAAAAM/cat-smiley-cat.gif
  16. https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/5415/
  17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250429.html
  18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
  19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html
  20. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html
  21. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html
  23. https://apod.com/feed.rss
  24. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html
  25. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html
  26. https://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=250430
  27. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250501.html
  28. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  29. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  30. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  31. http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  32. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  33. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  34. https://www.nasa.gov/general/accessibility/
  35. https://www.nasa.gov/privacy/
  36. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  37. https://www.nasa.gov/
  38. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  39. https://science.nasa.gov/learners
  40. http://www.mtu.edu/