Unfamiliar face

Don't I know you ... ?

In my many decades of observing the cosmos – more than 65 years – I never have seen a smiley face in the night sky. Not once.

And I'm sure I won't on the morning of April 25, 2025.

Bet you've seen him before: the fake smiley face that's been making the rounds. 

In the age in which misinformation is commonplace, many social media sites are sharing this image, purported to show what appears to be a smiley face that will appear that morning in the sky. It's an artificial illustration of the crescent Moon with the planets Venus and Saturn directly above – but all too close and mostly too bright.

But before I progress across too many light-years, a message to my dear friends who have shared the original post and image: This blog is not a slap at you. I'd never do that.

My emphasis is where astronomical news is concerned, be sure to follow a trusted source. Otherwise, people are disappointed when they look, and because of that, they may not look again. That's a travesty.

Let me share the accurate news with you.

In some instances, the conjunction may seem like a smiley face, but nothing similar to the misleading image above.

You'll need to look east just before your local sunrise. I expect that blazing Venus will stand out just above the horizon, but the Moon – just 8 percent illuminated by the rising Sun – might be difficult to see. Saturn, too, likely will be hard to pick out of the growing dawn.

I have produced several illustrations with my planetarium software to show how the scene at daybreak will appear. Take note of the local times in DST (upper left) for each location. I have used different times at some locations to illustrate, especially, that the Moon, Venus and Saturn have risen above the eastern horizon.

In images in which Neptune is charted, dismiss it because a telescope is need to see that distant planet. Mercury, too, is displayed on some of the charts, and while it may be visible to the unaided eye, it is not part of the so-called smiley face.

So let's start with the scene from my home Palm Harbor, Fla.:

Now up the East Coast of the United States to Boston:

A little farther south to Philadelphia:

What's it like out west? Here's Los Angeles:

Farther north is Seattle:

In the northern part of the midwest, here's Minneapolis:

Way down to Brownsville, Texas:

How about the Big Easy? Here's New Orleans:

Into the Caribbean at  San Juan, Puerto Rico:

Finally, to my forever home, Pittsburgh:

It's easy to see from these graphics that someone might believe they see a smiley face, admittedly one that's tilted to varying angles as seen from different locations, but remember, these illustrations cannot display accurately the varying brightness of the Moon and planets.

So, if you're an early riser, go out before sunrise on April 25 – that's next Friday. See what you can see and, by all means, please get back to me! Face it -- I'd love to hear from you!