Tour of the Sky: May 2006

Astronomy a Go Go! Tour of the Sky: May 2006

I have divided the show into two parts, early May and late May with a song in the middle to help you find the division.

All of the observations are for 10pm for the mid latitudes as you move south it gets darker sooner so if you go out before 10 rotate my observations to the east 15 degrees for each hour.

Northern hemisphere sky map
Southern hemisphere sky map - also visit
James Barclay's site for a great tour of the Southern Hemisphere May sky.

So spread out a blanket, pull out your scopes and binoculars and join me for a tour of the May skies.

Key Dates for May

May
1 - Lunar Libration reveals Mare Australe on the lower eastern limb (selenographic coordinates 38.9° S, 93.0° E.)
1 - Moon at greatest Northern declination +29 degrees 4 - Jupiter at opposition 5 - First Quarter
6 - Eta Aquarid meteor shower peak and Astronomy Day 12 - Comet Schwassman-Wachmann closest to earth. 13 - Full Moon
16 - Moon at greatest southern declination -29 degrees 18 - Mercury at superior conjunction slipping into the glare of the sun to become an evening planet
20 - Last Quarter
27 - New Moon
30 - Moon and Mars line up with Castor and Pollux
31 - Waxing Crescent Moon, Saturn and the Beehive cluster all framed together
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Music

Alexye Nov -"Nightly Murmur of Crickets"
Jeff Vidov - "Arise--for chamber ensemble--2nd movement"
Adrina Thorpe - "Midnight"