Clouds scatter the faint orange rays of the setting sun [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] in the foreground of this breathtaking photograph from the summit [ http://www.ifa.hawa…] of Mauna Kea, Hawaii [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…]. Taken on April 7th, this skyscape features a dramatic lunar and planetary alignment [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…]. An overexposed crescent moon [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] dominates the celestial scene, but the bright "star" just below and to its right is Saturn [ http://www.jpl.nasa…] while further below Saturn is a close pairing of brilliant Jupiter [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] and a fainter, yellowish Mars [ http://marsnt3.jpl.…]. Red giant star Aldebaran [ http://www.bo.astro…] is almost directly above the moon near the top of the image and the bright blue stars of the Pleiades cluster [ http://www.aao.gov.…] are visible about midway up and to the right of the moon-Aldebaran line. The good news is that planetary alignments [ http://www.skypub.c…] like this one do not portend [ http://tech-two.mit…macbeth.html ] disasters, are relatively common, and can clearly make inspirational viewing for casual stargazers and astronomers alike. The bad [ http://www.badastro…] news is that the world is not going to end because of the highly publicized planetary alignment [ http://www.griffith…] occurring tomorrow, May 5th -- so you probably will have to go to work [ http://www.nasa.gov…]!
