Astronomy Events – May 2012
April 30, 2012by yaska77
Despite a relatively good start to April, the proverbial showers soon set in and the second half of the month has been a washout under one rainstorm after another!
It can’t rain all the time though (can it!?), and with May now upon us there’s a whole new list of astronomical events coming up to cater for everyone!
Tuesday 1st May - Mercury rises before the Sun just after 04:00 UTC (05:00 BST) in the eastern sky
Thursday 3rd May – Venus is still visible after sunset over the west northwest horizon, and will gradually move closer to the setting Sun over the course of the month
Sunday 6th May – The Eta Aquarid meteor shower peaks this morning with a ZHR of around 30 per hour (see below). The radiant is in the constellation Aquarius that comes up over the eastern horizon around 01:30 UTC (02:30 BST) on 6th May, but meteors could appear anywhere across the sky
Aquarid Meteor Radiant shown at 03:00 UTC (04:00 BST) on 6th May (click to enlarge) – Credit: Sky-Watching/Stellarium
Tonight’s Full Moon is also at Perigee (356,955 km)
Monday 7th May – Saturn appears close to the blue giant Spica this evening, shown below to the south at 22:30 UTC (23:30 BST). At this time the Moon is also rising to the east close to the red giant Antares, which means “rival of Mars”
Saturn will be close to the blue giant Spica directly south at 22:30 UTC/23:30 BST (click to enlarge) – Credit: Sky-Watching/Stellarium
Saturday 12th May – Last Quarter Moon
Sunday 13th May – Jupiter is in conjunction with the Sun, and won’t be visible all month
If you’ve got a telescope M13 is well worth a look in the early hours of 17th May (click to enlarge) – Credit: Sky-Watching/Stellarium
Thursday 17th May – The Great Globular Cluster M13 in the constellation Hercules is at its highest at 01:00 UTC (02:00 BST) this morning (see above). We’ve always wanted to image this, and having had a go at lesser cluster M37 last year (below) we’re hoping it stays crystal clear this evening!
We imaged the M37 cluster in January this year, but M13 is much more impressive! (click to enlarge) – Credit: Sky-Watching/A.Welbourn
Saturday 19th May - Moon is at Apogee (406,450 km)
Sunday 20th May – New Moon which rises and sets with the Sun, so tonight is a good time for looking at deep sky objects
Tuesday 22nd May – Venus appears just above and to the right of the waxing crescent Moon this evening, which will set about an hour and a half after the Sun
Imaging the crecent Moon and Venus can get good results, in January they were opposite to how they’ll appear on 22nd May, when they’ll also be closer! (click to enlarge) – Credit: Sky-Watching/A.Welbourn
Wednesday 23rd May - This is the time of year to start looking for noctilucent clouds, which sometimes appear low down in the northwest (after sunset) and northeast (just before sunrise)
Noctilucent clouds as captured over Sweden (click to enlarge) – Credit: P-M Hedén
These clouds are in the upper atmosphere and are usually too faint to see, becoming visible only when illuminated by sunlight from below the horizon while the lower layers of the atmosphere are in the Earth’s shadow
Sunday 27th May – Mercury is at Superior Conjunction
Monday 28th May – First Quarter Moon
The daytime First Quarter Moon from April 29th 2012 (click to enlarge) – Credit: Sky-Watching/A.Welbourn
Planets visible this month:
Remember, it can take your eyes up to 20 minutes to become properly dark adapted, and anything up to an hour for a telescope to reach ambient temperature outside (to ensure the best image), so give yourself plenty of time to get set up!
To make it easier to find this list of astronomical happenings you can also locate it in the “Monthly Guide” section in the menu bar to the right. Handy! 
Guide images created with Stellarium
Archive:
Astronomy Events – April 2012
Astronomy Events – March 2012
Astronomy Events – February 2012
It’s still one of my ambitions to see noctilucent clouds. I’m also hoping for some clear skies to see some shootings stars tonight or tomorrow. Love your photos, especially the earthshine.
Me too Jo! I tried a couple of times last year with the camera but didn’t get anything but normal wispy clouds
And thanks for the comment about my snaps. Still learning but like what I’m getting so far.
Unfortunately cloud and rain has been forecast here for the weekend, but I hope you get a chance to go meteor spotting! Let us know if you see any!
beautiful pics
Just a question: Why the crescent moon is pretty upsidedown on your location?
If you’re in the southern hemisphere you’ll be looking at the moon from the opposite way to us in the northern hemisphere, as above the equator peoples heads are pointing “up”, while below the equator peoples heads are will be pointing “down”.
If you’re closer to the equator the effect will be somewhere between the two