What’s Up This Month – May 2009

Galaxies and planets are on the menu this month.  All planets are visible (even Pluto), though not at the same time.  Saturn presents the finest view for small telescopes as it hovers under Leo.  And those of you with a good-sized telescope and dark sky can hop the galaxy fields of Virgo, between the stars Denebola in Leo and Vindemiatrix in Virgo to see the nearest major cluster of galaxies to the Milky Way (more on that in the next issue).  Also, in mid-month, if you get up early you can see a double transit of Jupiter…

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Celestial Events This Month

• Venus is at its brightest on May 2, presenting its largest illuminated area to Earth to viewers of the eastern pre-dawn sky.

• The eta Aquarids meteor shower peaks around May 6 as the Earth passes through the trail of Halley’s Comet.  Not a particularly fine shower, it’s best seen from low northern to mid-southern latitudes before dawn.

• The full Moon is on May 9.

• A week later, on May 17, the last-quarter Moon lies 3 degrees east of Jupiter.  Also on this day, you’ll see from North America an unusual event: the shadows of two of Jupiter’s moons moving across its face as Callisto and Io transit the planet starting at 3:46 a.m. EDT.

• Jupiter lies just 1/2 degree south of Neptune on May 25-26.  You can see both planets in the same field of view of a telescope at 50-60x or so, though you may need higher magnification to resolve Neptune’s tiny disk.

Jupiter meets Neptune on May 25 (click to enlarge)

• Castor, Pollux, and a slender crescent Moon hover above the horizon an hour after sunset.  Castor is a multiple star and a fine sight in a small telescope.

Planets

• Mercury is low in the western sky at sunset, showing near the Pleiades on May 1-2.  It fades from view a week later as it moves between Earth and the Sun (this position is called inferior conjunction).

• Venus is a beautiful sight all month in the pre-dawn sky.  You can’t miss it… it’s the brightest thing around.

• Mars is dim and low in the morning sky near the much brighter Venus.

• Jupiter rises around 3 a.m. local time in eastern Capricorn.  (See above).

• Saturn. As in the past few months, Saturn is well-positioned for viewing in the underside of Leo.  The rings are tilted just 4 degrees to our line of sight.

• Uranus is found near the Circlet of Pisces in the early-morning sky.

Deep-Sky Sights

For northern observers with a pair of binoculars, the Coma Berenices cluster presents a splendid view on a warm spring night.  The cluster is just 270 light-years away, so it’s large and spread out over some 5 degrees of sky between the tip of the handle of the Big Dipper and the bright star Spica in Virgo. The constellation Coma Berenices, or “Berenices Hair”, is named after an Egyptian queen who gave her beautiful hair to the goddess Aphrodite to secure the safe return of her husband from battle.

Coma Berenices (click to enlarge)

For southern observers, the great globular cluster omega Centauri is an object we northerners only dream of seeing.  It’s easy to find, just 10 degrees northeast of the Southern Cross.

This month’s astronomy haiku…

“Flashing meteor–
Not one in a million
Saw its blazing end.”