May Night Skies

A brief overview of what to see in the sky with the unaided eye during May evenings:

Stars and Constellations
●    Some prominent constellations visible in the evening sky are Bootes, Corona Borealis and Hercules
●    Follow the ‘handle’ stars of the Big Dipper star group southward to the star Arcturus in Bootes. Arcturus and Bootes continue to be prominent most of the night
●    Arcturus is a bright (first magnitude) orange star nearly overhead during spring evenings
●    Corona Borealis is a distinct (in dark skies) “C” shaped group of stars east of (or below) Bootes
●    Hercules is also a reasonably distinct constellation surrounding a “keystone” shaped group of stars east of Corona Borealis
●    The bright constellation Leo is high in the western sky during spring evenings

Planets
●    Mercury is practically not visible during May, very low above the eastern horizon near sunrise and close to the sun
●    Venus shines brightly in the eastern pre-dawn sky
●    Mars is visible high in the western sky after sunset in the Cancer constellation
●    Jupiter is visible low in the western sky after sunset in the Taurus constellation and sets several hours after sunset
●    Saturn is visible low in the eastern pre-dawn sky in the Pisces constellation and near Venus during the first week of May

Moon Phases
●    First Quarter Moon May 4, 09:52 EDT
●    Full Moon May 12, 12:56 EDT
●    Last Quarter Moon May 20, 07:59 EDT
●    New Moon May 26, 23:02 EDT

Noteworthy Sky Events
●    May 5-6: Eta Aquarid meteor shower peaks, but it remains active until late May
●    May 22-23: thin crescent moon very close to Saturn and Venus in pre-dawn eastern sky

Sky-watching Resources Online
Some website resources for sky charts, weekly sky events, and more information:
●    astrogeo.ca/skylights
●    www.heavens-above.com
●    In-the-sky.org
●    www.skyandtelescope.org
●    www.skymaps.com

Star Chart for mid-May, mid-evening (courtesy of www.heavens-above.com):