July 20, 2025 Lunar Occultation of the Pleiades

The much anticipated lunar oocultation of the Pleiades star cluster truly lived up to the hype. Early in the morning on July 20th, the Moon rose from the horizon just above the Pleiades. I got out the telescopes, binoculars, and cameras in anticipation. There were some cloud bands passing by from time to time, and we hoped for clear skies.

This series of photos was taken centered around 3:23 AM. The star Electra is revealed from behind the dark limb and then Alcyone is covered by the bright limb. All with Maia looking on just out of the way of the lunar disk.

Nikon D750 with Orion 10" Astrograph on Celelstron AVX mount.