Monthly Night Sky Report: May 2024

               Introduction

     April was a decent month to get back out under the stars. Of course, the highlight was the eclipse. If you missed my post about my experience and a few images, be sure to check it out! I also captured several images of the Moon, Sun, galaxies, and nebula with my new telescope. The best images will be shared soon! April ended with a few cloudy and stormy days. 

    May will be an excellent month for individuals who must get up early in the morning. Most planets can be found in the morning sky shortly before sunrise. May will also bring the return of the Eta Aquariid Meteor Shower. The shower will peak under favorable conditions this year and should be worth checking out. Now that the May flowers are out and the April showers are over, stargazers should have plenty of opportunities to gaze skyward at the universe's wonders. 

         

             

Mercury

    Mercury was recently in conjunction with the Sun but will return to the morning sky on the 6th. It will be accompanied by a thin crescent Moon. The pair will be found slightly above the eastern horizon before sunrise. This tiny planet will be the last to rise in a planetary lineup that occurs this month. On the 6th, Mercury can be found trailing behind Mars, Neptune, and Saturn in the morning sky. Mercury will reach its greatest western elongation on the 9th, but the innermost planet will still be found close to the horizon and may be hard to pick out in the morning glare of the rising Sun. Mercury will brighten in magnitude as the month progresses but will not gain much if any, altitude. The best chance of viewing the innermost planet will come on the 28th, when Mercury is shining its brightest for the month, but viewing this planet will require a clear view of the eastern horizon.         

  

Venus

    The Earth's evil twin sister, Venus, will be lost from view during May as it lies too close to the Sun. Venus will return to the sky as the "Evening Star" near the end of June and beginning of July.    

    

Mars

    Mars rises before the Sun and Mercury throughout the month. The Red Planet will be third in the planetary lineup in May, trailing behind Neptune and Saturn in the morning sky. A thin crescent Moon will join Mars in the sky on the 4th. Mars is too tiny and far away to offer much detail to telescope users this month. The Red Planet will also be dim but will reach its brightest magnitude for the month on the 31st. 

Jupiter

Saturn

    Jupiter will be the only planet visible in the evening sky this month, but even that will be short-lived. On the first evening of May, Jupiter will set about an hour after the Sun. With each passing day, Jupiter will set even earlier and will reach conjunction with the Sun on the 18th. Being this low in the sky, Jupiter will not offer much cloud band detail. Interested observers should still be able to spot the four Galilean Moons.  Jupiter will join the the morning planets in June.     

   Saturn is the first planet to rise in the morning sky. This ringed planet will rise about 90 minutes before the Sun on the 1st and will continue to rise earlier each morning. As the first planet to rise, it will be the first planet in the planetary lineup this month, outpacing the other three. A slender Moon will join Saturn on the 3rd and again on the 31st. For observers in the southern hemisphere, the Moon will occult Saturn, temporarily hiding this planet from view. This year is a great year to view Saturn as its rings will "disappear" next year due to the Earth and Saturn being aligned in such a way that the rings will be hard to observe. The rings of Saturn on what is known as the "ring-plane" will be nearly edge-on for Earthbound observers.   

   

       

Neptune

Uranus

    

    Uranus reaches conjunction with the Sun on the 13th and will be lost from view. This distant planet will return to view in the morning sky near the end of June.   

 
    Neptune is the fourth planet, but second to rise, in the morning planetary lineup, which also features Saturn, Mars, and Mercury. Neptune will be the most difficult to spot due to its distance and dimness, as observed from the Earth. On the 1st, Mars will be less than 2° to the lower left of Neptune. A pair of binoculars or a low-power eyepiece in a telescope should show both planets nicely. The reddish-orange Mars will contrast with the deep blue of Neptune. As May continues, so does the separation between these two planets. Mars will appear to move eastward in the sky as Neptune attempts to escape the glow of the morning Sun. A slim crescent Moon will join Neptune in the sky on the 4th. By the end of the month, the most distant planet will be over 15° high an hour before sunrise.      

Eta Aquariids and Comet Olbers

    This year is a great year to view the Eta Aquariids! The Moon will be in its waning crescent phase and will not reflect as much of the Sun's light to interfere with this shower. The Aquariids will peak on the 5th, but it should be worth watching the sky a day or two before the peak date. This shower is produced from debris left by Halley's Comet. This year, the Earth will be much closer to one of these debris trails, meaning there will potentially be more and brighter meteors. The best time to view meteor showers is in the early morning hours before sunrise. Aquarius, where this shower will appear to radiate from, will rise above the eastern horizon around 3:30, about an hour before Saturn. Typically, the Aquariids have a maximum rate of 50 meteors per hour, but this number may be larger this year. Grab a comfortable chair and warm blanket to enjoy this shower! It might also be worth using a camera to take long exposures of the sky around Aquarius to capture some images of these meteors. 

    Comet Pons-Brooks has moved on for Northern Hemisphere observers, while Comet Olbers will take center stage. This comet was discovered in 1815 by the same man who asked, "Why is the sky dark?" I'll talk more about this in a future post. For now, let's focus on the comet he discovered. Beginning on the 1st, Olbers can be found passing through Taurus above the western horizon after sunset. With each passing evening, this comet will be found at roughly the same altitude but will move into the Auriga constellation. Olbers will require a pair of binoculars or a telescope, a dark sky, and a clear view of the western horizon after sunset. A long exposure image should show the green color of this comet. 

Monthly Breakdown

May 01: Last Quarter Moon🌗
May 03: Moon passes within 1° of Saturn 
May 04: Moon passes within 1° of Mars
May 04: Moon passes within 1° of Neptune  
May 05: Eta Aquariid Meteor Shower Peaks
May 06: Moon passes within 4° of Mercury
May 07: New Moon 🌑
May 09: Mercury reaches greatest Western Elongation

May 13: Uranus and Sun conjunction

May 15: First Quarter Moon 🌓

May 18: Jupiter and Sun conjunction 

May 23: Full Moon 🌕

May 23: Moon passes within 1° of Antares

May 30: Last Quarter Moon🌗

May 31: Moon passes within 1° of Saturn

May 31: Moon passes within 1° of Neptune

         

Now get outside and look up!

Planet images were taken by NASA.

Andrew vs. the Cosmos image was taken by Jeff Greenland.

The Milky Way and Trees image was taken by Andrew Greenland.

Orion, Taurus, and Pleiades image was taken by Andrew Greenland.