If you’ve been on social media lately, you may have seen the claim that a smiley face, made up of the crescent moon and two bright planets, will grace the skies tomorrow morning. But is it true? Well, yes — sort of.
You will see a thin crescent moon in the sky before dawn, with bright Venus and Saturn nearby but for us viewers in the U.S., the face will be lying on its side, close to the horizon.
The graphic circulating on social media isn’t exactly accurate — see graphic below for how we will see it in the U.S.
Roughly 30 minutes before sunrise tomorrow, Apr. 25, 2025, the thin waning crescent moon will form a triangle with brilliant Venus and the much dimmer Saturn.
According to EarthSky.org, if you look toward the eastern horizon about an hour before sunrise, you’ll see the moon rising. It’s just two days from reaching new moon phase, so it will be about 8% lit. You might also see the dark part of the moon gently glowing with earthshine, which is light reflected from Earth. This glow also takes away from your perception of the moon being just a smile surrounded by darkness.
Next, notice the brilliant point of light that rose just before the moon. That’s Venus, the brightest planet from Earth’s perspective. The reason it looks so bright is because it’s relatively nearby in space and has a reflective atmosphere.
So, you MIGHT see some sort of “smiley face” tomorrow morning but it won’t look like the graphic circulating social media.
