Did you see the 'smiley face' Moon last week?
In the early hours of Friday, 25 April 2025, if you were up and out of bed before sunrise, you may have seen the crescent Moon sharing the sky with Venus and Saturn.
This interesting alignment was visible low in the eastern sky as dawn was breaking, so in order to see it, a good bit of organisation and luck was required.
The three celestial bodies were positioned such that, if you tilted your head to the right, they formed a 'smiley face' in the morning sky.
The crescent Moon formed the 'mouth' of this smiley face, while Venus and Saturn, appearing as bright points of light, formed the two eyes.
This image of the smiley face was captured by Nihal Sayyad, an amateur astronomer who observed it from Kolhapur, Maharashtra, India on 26 April.
While those of us in Europe and North America saw the smiley face on Friday 25 April, from Nihal's location, the time to see it was the following morning, 26 April.
"For a moment, it felt like the Universe smiled right back at me," says Nihal, who first shared the image via his website wondersinspace.com.
"I'm not an early bird, so waking up before sunrise wasn’t easy. But my love for space and the excitement of seeing this rare event pulled me out of bed. At 05:25, I woke up and ran up to my terrace.
"Living in a small town really helped! The sky was clear, the air was fresh and everything lined up perfectly.
"The Moon, Venus and a faint Saturn were right there, creating the rare 'smiley face conjunction'.
"By the time I grabbed my camera, they had drifted apart a little, so I switched the camera settings to fit them all in one frame.
"Thanks to the clear skies, I managed to click one of my favourite shots ever."
Image info
- Date and time: 26 April 2025, 05:43 (IST)
- Camera: Fujifilm FINEPIX HS35EXR
- Settings: ISO 200, 2", auto aperture, auto white balance
- Credit: Nihal Sayyad via www.wondersinspace.com
If you saw or photographed the smiley face created by the crescent Moon, Venus and Saturn, we'd love to hear from you! Email us at contactus@skyatnightmagazine.com
