Sorry to burst your astronomical bubble, but the claim that you'll see a full on smiley face in the sky is a tad exaggerated.

A Fascination With The Night Sky

Ever since I was a kid, I have been obsessed with the night sky.  I think my fascination with astronomy began when the comet Hale-Bopp was visible in the 90s.  I remember standing outside with my dad at night, looking for the comet.  I was fascinated with the bright comet in the sky and the fact that we wouldn't see Hale-Bopp again in our lifetime.

According to Space, Hale-Bopp won't be back for another 4,000 or so years.

Hale-Bopp represented an exciting time for astronomy. Scientists scrambled to examine the comet as much as possible during its brief cruise by Earth. The comet's last appearance in Earth's sky had been about 4,200 years before, and it won't return to the inner solar system for thousands of years.

Ever since then, I've always loved learning about outer space, and looking for unique events in the night sky.  Even just tracking the phases of the moon is fascinating to me.  So when I heard about a night sky smiley face, I HAD to know more!

The Night Sky Smiley Face on April 25th

All over social media I've been seeing posts that say to look to the moon on April 25th, and you'll see a rare planetary lineup where Venus and Saturn will be placed in a way that the crescent moon will look like a smile.  Which sounds pretty cool, right? Photos accompanying these posts look something like this:

Unfortunately, after doing some research, it looks like this is not exactly what's going to happen, but we could still see something pretty neat! Earth Sky says the reason is the planets each have a different brightness,, and the "smile," AKA the moon, will be on its side.

There are two big differences between reality and the image that’s circulating. One, the two planets that make up the “eyes” of the smiley face have a vastly different brightnesses. And, two, the “smiley face” will be lying on its side.

Earth Sky says that while what you'll see in the night sky is still pretty neat, it's nowhere near as dramatic as social media claims are making it out to be. They say it may actually be a bit difficult to spot.

About 30 minutes before sunrise on April 25, 2025, the thin waning crescent moon will form a triangle with brilliant Venus and the much dimmer Saturn. Mercury will lie near the horizon and might be difficult to spot.

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To see a chart of how this phenomenon will actually appear to us, check out Earth Sky's chart here.