May Night Skies
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 and passes inferior conjunction May 14
● Venus shines brightly in the western sky after sunset
● Mars becomes visible very low in the eastern pre-dawn sky in the Pisces constellation
● Jupiter shines brightly in the western sky after sunset in the Gemini constellation and sets several hours after sunset
● Saturn becomes visible very low in the eastern pre-dawn sky in the Cetus constellation
● Full Moon May 1, 13:23 EDT
● Last Quarter Moon May 9, 17:10 EDT
● New Moon May 16, 16:01 EDT
● First Quarter Moon May 23, 07:11 EDT
● Full Moon May 31, 04:45 EDT
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
Noteworthy Sky Events
● May 5-6: Eta Aquarid meteor shower peaks, but it remains active until late May
● May 18-20: thin crescent moon very close to Venus and Jupiter in the evening sky
Monthly Sky Chart for mid-May, mid-evening (courtesy of www.heavens-above.com):
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