What a month ahead for stargazers! The month of May offers a little bit of everything for us astronomy enthusiasts. There’s a meteor shower early in the month, a total lunar eclipse mid-month, and a parade of planets in the morning skies near the end of the month. Pretty cool!
This month’s challenge for beginners: It’s a great time of the year to follow an old saying and “arc to Arcturus.” Arcturus is the fourth brightest star in the entire night sky and has a beautiful orangish color (due to its relatively “cool” temperature).
First, find the Big Dipper by looking north. Then, follow the arc of its handle but extend the arc until you curve to Arcturus. If you continue the arc, you can then “speed on to Spica,” which is a brilliant-white star (due to its relatively hot temperature) located in Virgo.
This month’s astrophotography challenge: Take your pick — you can stay up late for the eclipse or wake up early for the planets. Either offers the opportunity for beautiful pictures with or without a telescope. Good luck!
Sky highlights this month:
- May 6. Eta Aquarids Meteor Shower. This is a reliable meteor shower of a medium rate. This year it will be at its best due to moonlight not being a factor (a waxing crescent that evening, which will set early). For best results, view from a very dark location after midnight.
- May 15–16. Total Lunar Eclipse. The full eclipse begins at 11:29 p.m. local time. Look for the Moon’s slight reddish hue as sunlight passing through Earth’s atmosphere gets scattered onto it. The eclipse maximum occurs at 12:11 a.m. The full eclipse ends by 12:54 a.m.
- May 15–16. Full Moon. Of course, it’s also a Full Moon, because you can only have a lunar eclipse during a Full Moon. This one was nicknamed the “Flower Moon” by some ancient Native American tribes for the time of year when, obviously, many flowers are in bloom.
- May 22–29. Conjunction Week! OK, that’s not an official title — just one I made up — but I think it’s apropos. In the morning skies of late May, we will be treated to a parade of all the naked-eye planets (Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn) and a crescent Moon (some nights). It should be magnificent and worth setting the alarm clock for a pre-dawn walk.
- May 30. New Moon. This is the best time of the month to venture out to a dark area and view/photograph deep-sky objects (nebulas, star clusters, galaxies, etc.). Please consider joining the South Florida Amateur Astronomers Association for information on the best places for sky-watching (www.sfaaa.com).
It’s a terrific month for astrophotography. If you post any cool pics, be sure to tag the Parklander® and me on Instagram (@theparklander and @jeterk1971)— We’d love to see your work!