May 2013
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[My primary data sources, both of which I highly recommend, are: (1) Guy Ottewell's Astronomical Calendar (annual edition), available through Sky Publishing Corp., and (2) TheSky (computer program) by Software Bisque.]
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This chart shows the night sky as it appears at 11:30 p.m. early in the month, 10:30 p.m. at mid month, and 9:30 p.m. late in the month from latitude 30º N. Hold the chart so the direction you are facing is at the bottom. For example, if you are facing north, turn the chart around so "Northern Horizon" is at the bottom as you hold it out in front of you. The stars on the lower part of the chart are those you will be facing in the sky. The stars at the chart's center represents the part of the sky straight overhead. [Sky chart generated using Cartes du Ciel freeware.] / To keep your eyes adjusted to the darkness as you look at the night sky, use a red-light flashlight to view the chart. You can make your own by putting red cellophane over the light or by coloring the lens of the flashlight with a red marker pen.
- Sun [Times exact for Waco, TX in CDT]
May 1 – Sunrise: 6:43 a.m.; Sunset: 8:08 p.m.
May 15 – Sunrise: 6:32 a.m.; Sunset: 8:18 p.m.
May 31 – Sunrise: 6:25 a.m.; Sunset: 8:28 p.m.
- Moon [Except when doing lunar viewing, stargazers regard the Moon as "natural" light pollution which interferes with viewing the night sky, just as human-created light pollution does. This is why most evening star parties are held around 3rd quarter and new Moon.]
Thu. May 2: 3rd Quarter
Thu. May 9: New
Fri. May 17: 1st Quarter
Fri. May 24: Full
Fri. May 31: 3rd Quarter
- Night Sky Events [Held at arm's length, the width of your fist is 10º and the width of your index finger is 1º. The width of a full Moon is ½º. ** denotes "don't miss" events.]
During the early evenings of May, the Milky Way lies flat around the horizon, making it seem to disappear.
1 Wed.: May Day and Beltane, a cross-quarter day celebrating the middle of spring.
2 Thu. morning: The Moon is at 3rd quarter.
6 Mon. morning: The Eta Aquarid meteor shower peaks with little interference from a low crescent Moon.
10 Fri.: The new Moon, passing between the Sun and Earth, produces an annular eclipse which won't be visible from our part of the world.
11 Sat.: Mercury is at superior conjunction behind the Sun and moving into the evening sky.
11 Sat. early evening: An ever-so-thin crescent Moon is 7° below Jupiter near the WNW horizon at dusk; the next night a still-thin crescent Moon is 6° to the bright planet's upper left.
18 Sat. evening: The 1st quarter Moon is 7° below Leo's brightest star Regulus.
21 Tue. evening: The gibbous Moon starts the evening 4° from the star Spica and closes to within 2° as they set at 4 a.m.
22 Wed. evening: Tonight the gibbous Moon moves through the night sky within 5° of Saturn until they set at the break of dawn.
24 Fri.: The full Moon is called the Milk Moon, Flower Moon, Corn Moon, and Planting Moon.
24 Fri. early evening: About 45 minutes after sunset, Mercury (mag -0.9) passes within 1+° to the right of brighter Venus (mag -3.9) with Jupiter (mag -1.9) 4° above, all just above the WNW horizon; a clear view of the horizon will be needed and binoculars will help.
26 Sun. early evening: As above, Venus (below), Jupiter (above left), and Mercury (above right) form a nearly equilateral triangle with each 2° apart.
27 Mon. early evening: Tonight Venus and Jupiter are within 1° (two moonwidths) with Mercury 2° above.
31 Fri. morning: The Moon is at 3rd quarter.
- Naked Eye Planets [The Sun, Moon and planets rise in the east and set in the west due to Earth's west-to-east rotation on its axis.]
Evenings: Jupiter, Venus, Mercury, Saturn
Morning: Saturn
* Mercury starts May in the Sun's glare but begins emerging late in the month in the evening sky, joining Venus and Jupiter near the WNW horizon shortly after sunset.
* Venus, now very low in the WNW at dusk, is beginning its stint as the "evening star" for the rest of 2013.
* Mars, still hidden in the Sun's glare, will begin to emerge in the morning sky next month.
* Jupiter is still visible low in the WNW at dusk but is about to disappear into the Sun's glare; it will then emerge in the morning sky in mid summer.
* Saturn came to opposition late last month and is now up all night.
- Astro Milestones
* May 18, 1910, Earth flew through the tail of Halley's Comet, creating panic among the gullible, some of whom bought gas masks and anti-comet pills to protect them from the "deadly gasses." Imagine the panic charlatans could have caused if they'd had today's Internet.
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This chart shows the night sky as it appears at 11 p.m. early in the month, 10 p.m. at mid month, and 9 p.m. late in the month from latitude 30º N. Hold the chart so the direction you are facing is at the bottom. For example, if you are facing north, turn the chart around so "Northern Horizon" is at the bottom as you hold it out in front of you. The stars on the lower part of the chart are those you will be facing in the sky. The stars at the chart's center represents the part of the sky straight overhead. [Sky chart generated using Cartes du Ciel freeware.] / To keep your eyes adjusted to the darkness as you look at the night sky, use a red-light flashlight to view the chart. You can make your own by putting red cellophane over the light or by coloring the lens of the flashlight with a red marker pen.
- Sun
Apr. 1 – Sunrise: 7:17 a.m.; Sunset: 7:48 p.m. / Apr. 15 – Sunrise: 7:00 a.m.; Sunset: 7:57 p.m. / Apr. 30 – Sunrise: 6:44 a.m.; Sunset: 8:08 p.m. [Times exact for Waco, TX in CDT]- Moon [Except when doing lunar viewing, stargazers regard the Moon as "natural" light pollution which interferes with viewing the night sky, just as human-created light pollution does. This is why most evening star parties are held around 3rd quarter and new Moon.]
Tue. Apr. 2: 3rd Quarter / Wed. Apr. 10: New / Thu. Apr. 18: 1st Quarter / Thu. Apr. 25: Full
- Night Sky Events [Held at arm's length, the width of your fist is 10º and the width of your index finger is 1º. The width of a full Moon is ½º. ** denotes "don't miss" events.]
2 Tue. morning: 3rd quarter Moon.
10 Wed: New Moon
12 Fri. evening: The crescent Moon is 8° below the Pleiades star cluster low in the WNW.
13 Sat. evening: The crescent Moon is between the Pleiades and Aldebaran, the "red eye" of Taurus the Bull, with bright Jupiter 9° above.
14 Sun. evening: The crescent Moon is 4° the upper left of bright Jupiter.
17 Wed.: Mars is at conjunction with (behind) the Sun, passing into the morning sky.
18 Thu. evening: 1st quarter Moon.
20 Sat. evening: The gibbous Moon is 6° below Leo's brightest star Regulus high in the S.
22 Mon. morning: The Lyrid meteor shower peaks but the large gibbous Moon setting only an hour or so before dawn begins to break makes this an unfavorable year for this shower.
24 Wed. evening: The nearly full Moon is less than 2° below Virgo's brightest star Spica low in the ESE.
25 Thu.: The full Moon, called the Egg Moon and Grass Moon, is 4° to the lower right of Saturn as they rise in the ESE soon after sunset. 28 Sun.: Saturn is at opposition - opposite the Sun as seen from Earth; it rises at sunset, is up all night, and sets at sunrise; planets at opposition are at their nearest to Earth and thus appear at their largest and brightest.
- Naked Eye Planets [The Sun, Moon and planets rise in the east and set in the west due to Earth's west-to-east rotation on its axis.]
Evenings: Jupiter, Saturn
Morning: Mercury (early in the month), Saturn
* Mercury is low in the ESE early in April but soon sinks into the rising Sun for the rest of the month.
* Venus, now hidden in the glare of the Sun, will emerge in the evening sky next month.
* Mars is hidden in the glare of the Sun all month.
* Jupiter, low the west in the early evening, sets before midnight.
* Saturn, rising soon after dark, is in the southwest by morning.
- Advance Notice
It's now only 11 years until the Apr. 8, 2024, total solar eclipse passes over the U.S. from Texas to Maine.
- Astro Milestones
* April 12 is the anniversary of Yuri Gagarin's 1961 historic 108 minute orbital flight around Earth - the first for humankind.
* April 21 is the anniversary of the 1962 landing of Ranger 4, the first American spacecraft on the Moon; intended to soft-land scientific instruments on the lunar surface, a malfunction caused the craft to crash-land, but even that was progress as previous attempts had missed the Moon entirely.
* Apr. 25, 1990, the Hubble Space Telescope was deployed by Discovery space shuttle astronauts; once its corrective optics were installed in 1993, astronomers have used it to make many remarkable discoveries, and its views of our cosmos have dazzled us like no other scientific instrument.
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This chart shows the night sky as it appears at 10 p.m. (CST) early in the month, 10 p.m. (CDT) at mid month, and 9 p.m. (CDT) late in the month from latitude 30º N. Hold the chart so the direction you are facing is at the bottom. For example, if you are facing north, turn the chart around so "Northern Horizon" is at the bottom as you hold it out in front of you. The stars on the lower part of the chart are those you will be facing in the sky. The stars at the chart's center represents the part of the sky straight overhead. [Sky chart generated using Cartes du Ciel freeware.] / To keep your eyes adjusted to the darkness as you look at the night sky, use a red-light flashlight to view the chart. You can make your own by putting red cellophane over the light or by coloring the lens of the flashlight with a red marker pen.
- Sun
Mar. 1 – Sunrise: 6:56 a.m.; Sunset: 6:27 p.m. (CST) / Mar. 15 – Sunrise: 7:39 a.m.; Sunset: 7:37 p.m. (CDT) / Mar. 31 – Sunrise: 7:19 a.m. Sunset: 7:47 p.m. (CDT) [Times exact for Waco, TX]- Moon [Except when doing lunar viewing, stargazers regard the Moon as "natural" light pollution which interferes with viewing the night sky, just as human-created light pollution does. This is why most evening star parties are held around 3rd quarter and new Moon.]
Sun., Mar. 3: 3rd Quarter / Mon., Mar. 11: New / Tue. Mar. 19: 1st Quarter / Wed., Mar. 27: Full
- Night Sky Events [Held at arm's length, the width of your fist is 10º and the width of your index finger is 1º. The width of a full Moon is ½º. ** denotes "don't miss" events.]
Mar. 2 Sat. evening: Saturn rises in the ESE ~11 p.m. with a gibbous Moon 5° to its upper right.
Mar. 4 Mon.: Mercury is at inferior conjunction between Earth and Sun and passing into the morning sky.
Mar. 4 Mon. morning: The Moon is at 3rd quarter.
Mar. 9 Sat. evening: Comet C/2011 L4 PANSTARRS at perihelion (nearest the Sun).
Mar. 11 Mon: The Moon is new.
Mar. 16 Sat. evening: The 26% crescent Moon is 5+° to the lower right of the Pleiades star cluster in the W.
Mar. 17 Sun. evening: The 35% crescent Moon passes between Jupiter (2° to the right) and Aldebaran (3° to the left).
Mar. 19 Tue. evening: The Moon is at 1st quarter.
Mar. 20 Wed.: Spring equinox, beginning of spring in the Northern Hemisphere when day and night are of (almost) equal length.
Mar. 27 Wed.: The full Moon, called the Lenten Moon, Sap Moon, Crow Moon, and Worm Moon, is 6° above (in the evening) the star Spica.
Mar. 28 Thu.: Venus is at superior conjunction passing behind the Sun and moving into the evening sky.
Mar. 28 Thu: Uranus is at conjunction with (behind) the Sun and passing into the morning sky.
Mar. 28 Thu. evening: The bright gibbous Moon is 8° above Saturn tonight, and 8° below the planet the next night.
Mar. 31 Sun. morning: Mercury is at greatest elongation 28° W of the rising Sun, and seen low in the east before sunrise.
Mar. 31 Sun. evening: Venus at greatest brilliancy at mag -3.9 low in the W.
- Naked Eye Planets [The Sun, Moon and planets rise in the east and set in the west due to Earth's west-to-east rotation on its axis.]
Evenings: Mercury (early in month), Jupiter, Saturn (late evening)
Morning: Mercury (latter half of the month), Saturn
* Mercury, starting the month in the Sun, emerges low in the E in the morning sky by mid-month.
* Venus spends the month hidden in the Sun's glare before emerging in the evening sky next month.
* Mars is too near the Sun for practical viewing.
* Jupiter, dominating the evening western sky in Taurus, sets around midnight.
* Saturn rises after midnight in Libra and is well up in the S by morning.
- Astro Milestones
* Mar. 13, 1781, William and Caroline Herschel discovered the planet Uranus from Bath, England.
* Mar. 17, 2011, NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft, launched in 2004, arrived at Mercury and began its orbital study of our solar system's innermost planet.
* Mar. 23, 1912, is the birth date of German rocket scientist Wernher von Braun who in one lifetime personified the worst and the best of science's potential. His V-2 rockets, built partly with slave labor, enabled Nazi Germany to bombard London and other European cities, killing countless innocents during WWII. After the war, his rockets launched the U.S. space program and eventually put humans on the Moon.
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This chart shows the night sky as appears early in the month at 9 p.m., middle of the month at 8 p.m., and late in the month at 7 p.m. from latitude 30º N. Hold the chart so the direction you are facing is at the bottom. For example, if you are facing north, turn the chart around so "Northern Horizon" is at the bottom as you hold it out in front of you. The stars on the lower part of the chart are those you will be facing in the sky. The stars at the chart's center represents the part of the sky straight overhead. [Sky chart generated using Cartes du Ciel freeware.] / To keep your eyes adjusted to the darkness as you look at the night sky, use a red-light flashlight to view the chart. You can make your own by putting red cellophane over the light or by coloring the lens of the flashlight with a red marker pen.
- Sun
Feb. 1 – Sunrise: 7:21 a.m.; Sunset: 6:03 p.m. / Feb. 15 – Sunrise: 7:10 a.m.; Sunset: 6:15 p.m. / Feb 28. 31 – Sunrise: 6:57 a.m.; Sunset: 6:26 p.m. (Times exact for Waco, TX)- Moon [Except when doing lunar viewing, stargazers regard the Moon as "natural" light pollution which interferes with viewing the night sky, just as human-created light pollution does. This is why most evening star parties are held around 3rd quarter and new Moon.]
Sun., Feb. 3: 3rd Quarter / Sun, Feb. 10: New / Sun. Feb. 17: 1st Quarter / Mon., Feb. 25: Full
- Night Sky Events [Held at arm's length, the width of your fist is 10º and the width of your index finger is 1º. The width of a full Moon is ½º. ** denotes "don't miss" events.]
Feb. 2 Sat. morning: The Moon is between Spica (6° to the upper right) and Saturn (12° to the left) high in the S.
Feb. 2 Sat.: Groundhog Day and Candlemas, a cross-quarter day celebrating the middle of winter; and whether or not the groundhog sees his shadow, there will be 46 more days of winter.
Feb. 3 Sun. morning: The 3rd quarter Moon is now nearer Saturn (5° to the upper right) and Libra's alpha star Zubenelgenubi (2° to the upper left).
Feb. 5 Tue. morning: Scorpius' alpha star Antares is 6° to the lower right of the Moon low in the SSE.
Feb. 8 Fri. early evening: About 30 minutes after sunset, look for Mercury (mag -1.0) with somewhat fainter Mars (mag 1.2) less than ½° (one moonwidth) to the lower left; the pair will be 7° above the WSW horizon - binoculars might be needed.
Feb. 10 Sun.: The Moon is new passing between the Earth and Sun.
Feb. 16 Sat. evening: Mercury is at greatest elongation 18° E of the setting Sun; some 30-45 minutes after sunset look for Mercury 7-10° above the W horizon with Mars 5°.
17 Sun. evening: The 1st quarter Moon is 6° to the lower left of the Pleiades star cluster and 5° below Jupiter high in the WSW.
18 Mon. evening: The Moon is now 7° above Jupiter (lower right) and 5° above Aldebaran (lower left).
21 Thu.: Neptune is in conjunction with (behind) the Sun, passing into the morning sky.
25 Mon. all night: The full Moon is called the Wolf Moon, Snow Moon, and Hunger Moon.
Late February, under clear, dark moonless skies, is a good time to see the zodiacal light for a couple of hours after evening darkness, and gegenschein (counter-glow) around midnight. Both appear as soft glows resulting from sunlight reflected off meteoric dust in the plane of our solar system.
- Naked Eye Planets [The Sun, Moon and planets rise in the east and set in the west due to Earth's west-to-east rotation on its axis.]
Evenings: Jupiter, Mars (early evening), Mercury (early evening mid-month)
Morning: Saturn
* Mercury is visible in the evening sky low in the west for the middle half of the month.
* Venus is still in the morning sky but is getting too near the rising Sun for easy viewing.
* Mars is very low in the W for a short time after sunset.
* Jupiter, situated in Taurus between the Pleiades star cluster and the star Aldebaran, is high in the S in the early evening and sets after midnight.
* Saturn rises after midnight in Libra and is well up in the S by morning.
- Astro Milestones
* Feb. 4 is the birthday of Clyde Tombaugh (1906-1997).
* Feb. 15 is the birthday of Galileo Galilei (1564-1642).
* Feb. 17, 1600, Giordano Bruno was burned at the stake by the Inquisition for his cosmological and other heretical views.
* Feb. 18, 1930, American astronomer Clyde Tombaugh discovered Pluto on photographic plates he had taken Jan. 23 and 29 from Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona.
* Feb. 19 is the birthday of Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543), Polish astronomer whose thesis that the Sun rather than the Earth is at the center of the universe revolutionized scientific and theological thinking in the western world.
* Feb. 20, 1962, astronaut John Glenn became the first American to orbit Earth in the Mercury spacecraft named Friendship 7. A fighter pilot in WWII and the Korean War, Glenn became one of the original seven astronauts in 1959. After leaving NASA he served as a U.S. Senator (D-Ohio) from 1974-1999. In 1998, at the age of 77, he returned to space in the Discovery space shuttle.
* Feb. 24, 1987, Supernova 1987a was discovered in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a companion galaxy to our Milky Way galaxy some 170,000 light years away.
