Monday morning, before dawn brightens in the east, the Moon floats next to the Pleiades star cluster. Look to the east after moonrise at 3:30 a.m. The Moon, full with Earthshine, glows just to the lower left of the Pleiades as they rise higher. Use binoculars to pick out the cluster's individual stars popping out behind the Moon's dark side. Does the Lunar light overpower the tiny cluster? By 5:15, the brightening twilight washes out the Pleiades, leaving only the crescent Moon.
This is the same Pleiades cluster that Mercury was position near just two months, but in the early evening sky. Since then, the Earth has moved 1/6 around the sun, giving us a slightly different perspective in relationship to the sun's location on the celestial dome.
Such is our view from Earth ...
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