Monthly Night Sky information provided by Chris Vaughan (@Astrogeoguy) at Starry Night Education (@StarryNightEdu).
During the first week of May, the eastward orbital motion of the planet Mars will carry it through the northern edge of the large, bright open star cluster in Cancer known as the Beehive and Messier 44. After dusk, you can locate the medium-bright, reddish dot of Mars shining about halfway up the western sky. […]
The annual Eta-Aquariids Meteor Shower is produced when Earth’s orbit carries us through a cloud of particles left behind by repeated trips of Halley’s Comet along its own orbit around the sun. The shower, which runs from April 19 to May 28, will peak in intensity from Monday evening to Tuesday morning, May 6 in […]
As the sky is darkening on Monday evening, May 5, Leo’s brightest star Regulus will appear just to the right of the waxing gibbous moon. That hot, white, B-class star, which is located only 79 light-years from our sun, marks the heart of Leo, the Lion. For skywatchers viewing the duo later at night, or […]
When the sky darkens on Friday evening, May 9 in the Americas, Spica, the brightest star in Virgo, will appear a short distance to the moon’s lower left – close enough for them to share the view in binoculars (orange circle). As the pair crosses the sky during the night, the moon’s orbital motion will […]
The moon will reach its full phase on Monday, May 12 at 12:56 p.m. EDT, 9:56 a.m. PDT, or 16:56 GMT. In the Americas, the moon will appear to be full on both Sunday and Monday night, but closer inspection will reveal a strip of shadow curving along the moon’s left and right limb, respectively, […]