| Date |
Planetarium
Show* |
Show
Time |
Observing
Hours** |
Celestial
Attractions |
| Thurs., May 8 |
OBSERVING ONLY |
- - - - - - - - - - |
8 - 11 p.m. |
Moon, Saturn, Mizar, spring sky |
| Date |
Observing
Hours** |
Event |
| Wed., May 14 |
1 - 3 p.m. |
Safe Sun viewing |
| May 8 |
! |
Free Public Night at the WCSU
Observatory. Observing with the 20-inch telescope, if skies are clear, 8 to 11 p.m. |
| 10 |
* |
The waxing crescent moon passes
very near the Beehive star cluster
(Messier 44) in Cancer the Crab. |
| 11 |
First Quarter Moon |
|
| 12 |
* |
The waxing gibbous Moon passes
near the white star Regulus
in Leo the Lion, and also close to the planet SATURN. |
| 13 |
! |
The planet MERCURY reaches greatest eastern elongation, 22
degrees from the Sun. Look ENE during evening twilight for this
zero-magnitude planet. (It can also be glimpsed starting around the
beginning of May, but vecomes more difficult to spot as May progresses.) |
| 14 |
! |
Safe Sun viewing (if skies are
mainly clear) from 1 to 3 p.m. on the
roof of the Science Building (WCSU Midtown campus) |
| 19 |
FULL Flower MOON |
|
| 20 |
The Moon reaches apogee at
406,403 km (252,527 miles) from Earth's center. It also passes very
near the orange summer star Antares
in Scorpius the Scorpion. |
|
| 22 |
!! |
Look through binoculars toward
Cancer the Crab (between Gemini and Leo) to see the planet MARS passing
right through the Beehive star
cluster (Messier 44). |
| 27 |
Last Quarter Moon |
| MERCURY | — |
puts in its
best evening appearance this year (look low in the west after sunset)
for northern hemisphere observers
during the first two weeks of May. |
| VENUS | — | is visible in southeastern
predawn
skies but becomes lower and more difficult to see in predawn skies
during May. |
| MARS | — |
, moving into Cancer in May, is
high in the early evening western sky but has
faded significantly from its close approach in December, 2007. Its
closest
approach to Earth last year was on December 18, at which time it
reached magnitude -1.6 and showed a disk
almost 16 arcseconds across.
Some relevant numbers for Mars: Date Magnitude Diameter ( " ) Dec. 20 -1.6 15.8 Dec. 30 -1.5 15.4 Jan. 10 -1.3 14.6 Jan. 20 -1.0 13.5 Jan. 30 -0.7 12.3 Feb. 10 -0.3 10.9 Feb. 20 0.0 10.0 Mar. 1 +0.2 9.1 Mar. 11 +0.4 8.3 Mar. 21 +0.6 7.6 Mar. 31 +0.8 7.0 Apr. 11 +1.0 6.5 Apr. 21 +1.1 6.1 May 1 +1.2 5.8 Mars reaches aphelion at 249 million km (154,700,000 miles) from the Sun on May 12. |
| JUPITER | — | is visible above the
east-southeastern horizon in late
evening (mid-May). The waning gibbous Moon passes near Jupiter on thye
morning of May 24. |
| SATURN | — | , in Leo near the star Regulus, is high in the SW sky
after
sunset and visible into the "wee hours." Saturn's
rings are only tilted 8 or 9 degrees to us now; they will be edge-on
(i.e., disappear from easy
view!) during 2009. |
STAR WATCH is brought to you by WCSU Astronomy. Thanks for
connecting! For more information, please call the Observatory line at
(203) 837 - 8672
or Dr. Dennis Dawson at (203) 837 - 8671.