¿ 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. 2021 April 6 [2]Mars and the Pleiades star cluster set behind one-tree hill. See Explanation. Mars and the Pleiades Beyond Vinegar Hill Image Credit & Copyright: [3]Kristine Richer Explanation: Is this just a lonely tree on an empty hill? To start, perhaps, but [4]look beyond. There, a [5]busy universe may wait to be discovered. First, physically, to the left of the tree, is the planet [6]Mars. The red planet, which is the new home to NASA's [7]Perseverance rover, remains visible [8]this month at sunset above the western horizon. To the tree's right is the [9]Pleiades, a bright cluster of stars dominated by several bright blue stars. The [10]featured picture is a composite of several separate foreground and background images taken within a few hours of each other, early last month, from the same location on [11]Vinegar Hill in Milford, [12]Nova Scotia, [13]Canada. At that time, Mars was passing slowly, night after night, nearly in front of the distant [14]Seven Sisters star cluster. The next time Mars will pass [15]angularly as close to the Pleiades as it did in March will be [16]in 2038. Tomorrow's picture: open space __________________________________________________________________ [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: Phillip Newman [32]Specific rights apply. [33]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices A service of: [34]ASD at [35]NASA / [36]GSFC & [37]Michigan Tech. U. References 1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2104/MartianSisters_Rose_2000.jpg 3. https://www.instagram.com/kristinerosephotography/ 4. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap181119.html 5. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap201025.html 6. https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/mars/overview/ 7. https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/ 8. https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/whats-up-skywatching-tips-from-nasa/ 9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleiades 10. https://www.facebook.com/kristinerosephotography/photos/3911583112213743 11. https://www.saltwire.com/atlantic-canada/weather/cindys-snapshot/cindys-snapshot-moonrise-on-the-spring-equinox-294415/ 12. https://youtu.be/cJcvxxGlk2I 13. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nova_Scotia_in_Canada_2.svg 14. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap200909.html 15. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap151108.html 16. https://earthsky.org/tonight/closest-mars-pleiades-conjunction-until-2038 17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap210405.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.nasa.gov/apod.rss 24. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html 25. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html 26. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=210406 27. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap210407.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://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 35. https://www.nasa.gov/ 36. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ 37. http://www.mtu.edu/