BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Venus will put on its best show of the year during May, shining brilliantly in the western evening sky until very late. At the start of the month it will be easy to spot between the horns of the constellation Taurus the Bull. Venus will leave Taurus a week later and arrive at its farthest point above the ecliptic on May 9, when the planet will be low on the northwest horizon in the constellation Gemini. It will end the month south of the bright star Pollux.
Mars will be 5 degrees south of Pollux on May 9. The Red Planet will cross into the constellation Cancer by May 17 and move closer to the Beehive star cluster. It will set soon after midnight.
Saturn will rise around 3:30 a.m. local time on May 1. By month's end it will be visible by 1:30 a.m. in the constellation Aquarius. The yellow planet will be best in the hour before dawn, when it will be more than 20 degrees high in the southeast. Its rings will be tilted 8 degrees to our line of sight. Saturn's brightest moon, Titan, will be north of the planet on May 4 and 20, and south of it on May 12 and 28.
Jupiter will reappear from its journey behind the sun this month. The giant planet will be among the stars of the constellation Aries about 10 degrees above the eastern horizon an hour before sunrise at the end of May.
Mercury will reach inferior conjunction with the sun on May 1 and move into the morning sky soon after. It will continue to hug the eastern horizon during the month.
Meteor shower
This month Earth will encounter a stream of dust left behind in space by Comet Halley, causing the Eta Aquarid meteor shower that will peak before dawn on May 6. The shower will be active for a few days before and after the peak as well. The meteors will appear to come from a point called the radiant in the constellation Aquarius, which will rise in the east around 2 a.m. local time. The higher this point is above the horizon, the more meteors will be visible. The full moon will strongly interfere with the display of meteors, remaining visible all night and reducing the shower to a trickle, with only the brighter meteors visible. Try looking for meteors
a few days before the peak date to avoid the obscuring effects of the full moon. Observers in the Northern Hemisphere may see 10 meteors per hour, because Aquarius will be close to the eastern horizon. Those watching in the Southern Hemisphere will see Aquarius much higher in the sky, and there may be as many as 50 meteors per hour at the peak.
Moon phases
The moon will be full on May 5, at last quarter on May 12, new on May 19, and at first quarter on May 27.
Author: Hal Kibbey Email: hkibbey [at] gmail.com
The College of Arts