Welcome to SkyEye, your guide to this month's celestial events. All times and dates are given in Universal Time (UT). Daily darkness estimates are calculated for Greenwich, London (51.5° N, 0° W).
Calendar of Events - May
| Date | Event |
|---|
| 4 | Tue |
Total lunar eclipse |
| Full Moon |
| 5 | Wed |
The Eta Aquariids meteor shower is lost to the bright skies of the nearly full Moon. |
| 6 | Thu |
Moon at perigee |
| 11 | Tue |
Last Quarter Moon |
| 14 | Fri |
Mercury at greatest elongation west |
| 15 | Sat |
Comet C/2001 Q4 (NEAT) reaches perihelion and has a close encounter with M44, the Beehive Cluster shortly thereafter. |
| 19 | Wed |
New Moon |
| 21 | Fri |
Moon at apogee |
| Moon occults Venus |
| 27 | Thu |
First Quarter Moon |
| 31 | Mon |
Jupiter at east quadrature |
The Solar System
The word planet is derived from the Greek word for "wanderer." Unlike the background stars, planets seem to move around the sky, keeping mostly to a narrow track called the ecliptic, the path of the Sun across the stars.
- Sun
- Location: Aries -> Taurus
- Comet C/2002 T7 (LINEAR)
- Location: Cetus -> Eridanus -> Lepus -> Canis Major
After conjunction with the Sun, the comet makes its closest approach to Earth and may be as bright as second magnitude. Great care should be exercised when observing this comet during the middle of the month due to its proximity with the Sun.
- Mercury
- Location: Pisces -> Cetus -> Aries
The best view of this morning sky object is obtained from the southern hemisphere where it climbs high in the east by mid-month and then plummets back towards the horizon. It remains stubbornly low in the sunrise sky for northern observers.
- Venus
- Location: Taurus
The occultation of Venus by the Moon occurs in daylight hours on 21 May. The "evening star" is getting increasingly difficult to see as it dives towards the Sun and a rare transit next month.
- Mars
- Location: Taurus -> Gemini
Mars sets in mid-evening. On 25 May it appears very close to the planet Saturn in the west just after sunset.
- Jupiter
- Location: Leo
Quadrature is a particularly interesting time to observe telescopically the interplay of shadows between the planetary disc and the Galilean satellites.
- Saturn
- Location: Gemini
The ringed planet sets before midnight. Look for it in the west after sunset.
- Uranus
- Location: Aquarius
The faintest of the naked eye planets, Uranus rises just after midnight.
- Neptune
- Location: Capricornus
Neptune appears in the sky approximately an hour before Uranus.
- Pluto
- Location: Serpens (Cauda)
With a brightness of around fourteenth magnitude, the smallest planet in the solar system can be seen only through a good-sized telescope. Since opposition is next month, it can be observed virtually all night.
The Celestial Sphere
Constellations are patterns of stars in the sky. The International Astronomical Union (IAU) recognises 88 different constellations. The brightest stars as seen from the Earth are easy to spot but do you know their proper names? With a set of binoculars you can look for fainter objects such as nebulae and galaxies or some of the closest stars to the Sun.
Descriptions of the sky for observers in both the northern and southern hemispheres are available for the following times this month. Subtract one hour from your local time if daylight savings time is in effect. (Note: These times are approximate.)
Northern Hemisphere : 45° N
- 1730 hours (1830 hours daylight savings)
- 1930 hours (2030 hours daylight savings)
- 2130 hours (2230 hours daylight savings)
- 2330 hours (0030 hours daylight savings)
- 0130 hours (0230 hours daylight savings)
- 0330 hours (0430 hours daylight savings)
- 0530 hours (0630 hours daylight savings)
Southern Hemisphere : 30° S
- 1730 hours (1830 hours daylight savings)
- 1930 hours (2030 hours daylight savings)
- 2130 hours (2230 hours daylight savings)
- 2330 hours (0030 hours daylight savings)
- 0130 hours (0230 hours daylight savings)
- 0330 hours (0430 hours daylight savings)
- 0530 hours (0630 hours daylight savings)
For More Information...
- Consult our online glossary for non-technical explanations of many of the astronomical terms used in these pages.
- Blue moons, eclipses, the dates of Easter and much more can be found at the Interactive Astronomy Pages.
- For more information about the objects and events described in SkyEye, visit these astronomy-related sites.
Credits
Much of this information can be found in this month's issue of your favourite amateur astronomy magazine available in your local bookshop. Another excellent source is the current edition of the Astronomical Calendar by Guy Ottewell and published by the Universal Workshop at Furman University.
The image of the Sun in the SkyEye banner is courtesy of the SOHO/EIT consortium. SOHO is a project of international cooperation between ESA and NASA. Used with permission.
Copyright © 1995-2004 by David Harper and L.M. Stockman
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Obliquity
Last modified on 30 April 2004
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