Did you see the 'smiley face' celestial alignment on the morning of Friday, 25 April?
The alignment of the crescent Moon, Venus and Saturn was visible from UK, North America, Europe – across the Northern Hemisphere – by looking towards the eastern horizon just before sunrise.
The image below shows how the smiley face appeared in the sky above New York City.
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What was the smiley face?
In short, the 'smiley face' was made up of an alignment of Venus, Saturn and the crescent Moon close together in the morning sky.
But the face was on its side. Imagine a smiley face rotated 90° clockwise, and that's the sort of pattern that was formed by the two planets and the Moon.
The thin crescent Moon made the 'smile', while Venus made the face's right eye and Saturn made the face's left eye.
You can see what this looked like in the simulation below. Tilt your head to the right and Venus, Saturn and the crescent Moon form a smiley face pattern.
It was visible from about 05:00–05:30 local time, low down and close to the eastern horizon.
It's not uncommon for planets to appear close to the Moon in the night sky, and a planet appearing close to the Moon is known as a conjunction.
Two or more planets close to the Moon – like this 'smiley face' – is known as a massing in astronomy.
Was the 'face' really visible?
There were lots of stories about the 25 April 2025 celestial smiley face circulating online this week, some of which were realistically detailing what will be visible, and some of which were being rather liberal with the truth!
Venus has been a bright morning object all this week, rising in the east around 05:00 and visible before the Sun rises just before 06:00.
Each morning leading up to Friday 25 April, Venus rose in the same place at the same time, but the Moon tracked eastward each morning, moving closer and closer to Venus as it did so.
The Moon was a thin crescent, having been a full Moon on 13 April and waning towards new Moon on 27 April.
By the morning of 25 April, Venus and the crescent Moon rose together in the morning sky around 05:00 BST, Venus above the Moon.
Bright Venus and the Moon were certainly visible with the naked eye, provided you had a clear view of the eastern horizon.
The thing likely to have made this 'smiley face' alignment tricky to see for many observers, however, was Saturn.
Saturn was very faint – much fainter than Venus – and the last of the three to rise in the morning, sitting below Venus and the Moon in the sky.
And Saturn's faintness, its low position in the sky and the timing of its rising – close to the oncoming glare of the rising Sun – meant it was tricky to spot.
See the smiley face – quick, simple tips
If you did want to see the smiley face, you'll have needed need a clear eastern horizon, clear weather and good timing.
The trick was to look to the east before sunrise, around 05:00–05:30 local time.
First visible was a bright 'star' above the horizon. That was Venus.
Next, the thin crescent Moon rose.
Saturn rose at roughly the same time as the Moon, or just after it, depending on where you were viewing from.
Of this triangle, Venus was at the top, the crescent Moon was bottom left, Saturn was bottom right.
If you do manage to spot the smiley face, we'd love to hear from you. Get in touch with us by emailing contactus@skyatnightmagazine.com
