Monthly Night Sky information provided by Chris Vaughan (@Astrogeoguy) at Starry Night Education (@StarryNightEdu).
When the still very full moon rises over the southeastern horizon in mid-evening on Tuesday, May 13, it will be positioned very close to the very bright, reddish star Antares, which marks the heart of Scorpius. As the duo crosses the sky all night long, the rotation of the sky will shift the moon to […]
Stars shine with a color that is controlled by their surface (or photospheric) temperature, and this is captured in their spectral classification. In mid-May every year, the three bright stars of the Summer Triangle asterism are climbing the eastern sky after dusk. Deneb, Vega, and Altair are A-class stars that appear blue-white to the eye […]
The moon will reach its third quarter phase on Tuesday, May 20 at 7:59 a.m. EDT, 4:59 a.m. PDT, and 11:59 GMT. Third quarter moons always rise around midnight in your local time zone and then linger into the southern sky after sunrise. At third, or last, quarter, the moon’s western half is illuminated by […]
On Thursday morning, May 22, the pretty, waning crescent moon will begin its monthly cruise past the planets gathered above the eastern horizon. The moon will rise in the east during the wee hours of the morning. About 20 minutes later, the prominent, yellowish dot of Saturn will become visible several finger widths to the […]
After another 24 hours of easterly orbital motion, the old crescent moon will shine between Saturn and much brighter Venus on Friday morning, May 23. Their assemblage above the eastern horizon will offer a nice photo opportunity when composed with some interesting foreground scenery. Venus, the last of the trio to rise, will clear the […]