Welcome to SkyEye, your guide to this month's celestial events. All times and dates are given in Universal Time (UT). Nightly darkness estimates are calculated for Greenwich, London (51.5° N, 0° W).

Calendar of Events - May 2005

Date Event
1 Sun Last Quarter Moon
2 Mon
3 Tue
4 Wed
5 Thu This is a good year to view the Eta Aquariids meteor shower.
6 Fri
7 Sat
8 Sun Neptune at west quadrature
New Moon
1 Ceres at opposition in the constellation Libra. At only seventh magnitude, this minor planet should be visible through binoculars.
9 Mon
10 Tue
11 Wed
12 Thu
13 Fri
14 Sat Moon at apogee
15 Sun
16 Mon First Quarter Moon
17 Tue
18 Wed
19 Thu Moon occults Jupiter
20 Fri
21 Sat
22 Sun
23 Mon Full Moon
24 Tue Moon occults the first-magnitude star Antares as seen from the United States, Mexico and Central America. The occulation begins at about 0700 UT.
25 Wed
26 Thu Moon at perigee
27 Fri
28 Sat
29 Sun
30 Mon Last Quarter Moon
31 Tue Moon occults Mars

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
Mercury
Location: Pisces -> Aries -> Taurus
Mercury disappears from view by the end of the month but is visible in the east before sunrise at the beginning of May. Southern hemisphere observers get much the best views early in the month.
Venus
Location: Aries -> Taurus
The "evening star" is climbing higher in the western sky at sunset but is still very low and difficult to spot. At the moment, it is best seen from the northern hemisphere but Venus will appear quite high in the sky for southern hemisphere viewers later in the year.
Mars
Location: Aquarius
The red planet passes near Uranus mid-month and is occulted by the Moon on 31 May. Only the tip of South America will see this event which begins at approximately 0800 UT. Mars rises an hour or two after midnight.
Jupiter
Location: Virgo
The largest planet in the solar system was at opposition last month so it is visible most of the night, setting before sunrise. It is occulted by the Moon on 19 May in an event visible from Brazil, the south Atlantic and the southern tip of Africa. The occultation begins about 2100 UT.
Saturn
Location: Gemini
The ringed planet sets before midnight.
Uranus
Location: Aquarius
Uranus is in the vicinity of Mars this month.
Neptune
Location: Capricornus
At west quadrature on 8 May, Neptune rises 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. It rises before midnight.

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 summer (daylight savings) time is in effect.

Local Time Northern Hemisphere Southern Hemisphere
1730 hours (1830 hours summer time) 45° N 30° S
1930 hours (2030 hours summer time) 45° N 30° S
2130 hours (2230 hours summer time) 45° N 30° S
2330 hours (0030 hours summer time) 45° N 30° S
0130 hours (0230 hours summer time) 45° N 30° S
0330 hours (0430 hours summer time) 45° N 30° S
0530 hours (0630 hours summer time) 45° N 30° S

For More Information...

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. The composite image from May 1998 combines EIT images from three wavelengths (171Å, 195Å and 284Å) into one that reveals solar features unique to each wavelength. SOHO is a project of international cooperation between ESA and NASA.

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