May 2007

May evenings start with Venus dominating the western sky. Taurus and Orion are setting underneath this bright planet. Find Gemini above it. Saturn is higher still almost overhead just west of Leo. Venus climbs into Gemini by mid-month, drawing closer to Saturn while Mercury rises above the glare of the sun for late May observation during the evening. Mercury will be at the feet of Gemini at the end of May. Venus will be at the twins' heads passing by Pollux. Saturn stays put near the lion's head.

During all this time, Jupiter rises earlier and earlier becoming visible in the east sooner and sooner after nightfall. It remains mostly a morning object this month. For the second half of May,Mars becomes an easy to find object rising in the dawn next to Pisces.

The Moon is full on May second. Moonless nights will be around the 15th. Observers in the western hemisphere will likely consider the June first full moon a "blue moon" because adjusted for local time, it happens on May 31st. The second full moon of a month has become known as a "blue moon" because of a popular astronomy magazine's misinterpretation of the term from an almanac published in the early 20th century. The moon passes Antares on the 4th, Jupiter on the 5th, Uranus on the 12th, Mercury on the 18th, Pollux on the 20th, Saturn on the 22nd, Regulus on the 23rd.

The asteroid Vesta is at opposition at the end of May. It's a little northwest of Jupiter which reaches opposition in June.

Mercury is at perihelion May 8th, 46 million kilometers from the sun.

If there's a meteor shower in May, it could be the Eta Aquarids around the 5th and 6th. But the moon is still too full to let it give much of a show.