Moon, Venus, Pleiades to form cosmic triangle: How to watch
What's the story
Tomorrow, stargazers will be treated to a celestial event as the crescent Moon, Venus, and the Pleiades star cluster will align in a unique cosmic triangle. The three heavenly bodies will be visible just before sunrise. The sight is expected to be particularly stunning for those using telescopes or binoculars.
Visibility
Where to see the event?
In the US, observers can spot this cosmic trio above the eastern horizon in the pre-dawn hours of June 22. Venus will appear to shine below and to the right of the crescent Moon, while Pleiades star cluster will be located less than 10 degrees (one fist's width at arm's length) to its lower left. The Pleiades will be last of these three bodies to rise above horizon at around 3:15am ET (12:45pm IST).
Safety precautions
A note of caution for observers
As always, extreme caution must be exercised to never point telescopes or your binoculars at the rising Sun, as it can cause instant as well as irreversible damage to eyesight.
Cosmic characteristics
More about these 3 celestial bodies
The Moon is a small, barren world marked by craters and dark lunar seas formed by asteroid impacts billions of years ago. Venus, Earth's twin in size and mass, has taken a different evolutionary path that has made it inhospitable to life as we know it. Finally, the Pleiades star cluster (or Messier 45) is a gravitationally bound collection of over a thousand stars located within the Milky Way, some 445 light-years from Earth in the Taurus constellation.