Find out where to see Saturn, Mars, Mercury and Venus this month. The moon passes in front of the star Antares and the Eta Aquariid meteor shower peaks.
Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech
Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech
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00:00What's Up for May?
00:04The Moon hangs out with Saturn twice this month,
00:08the Scorpion's heart briefly goes missing,
00:12and meteors in the morning courtesy of Comet Halley.
00:16On May 3rd, in the hour or so before dawn, you'll find the crescent Moon
00:20rising with Saturn in morning twilight. The pair are trailed by the red planet
00:24Mars, which rises about 45 minutes after Saturn.
00:28They form a nice lineup in the east for early risers to enjoy.
00:32Then, on the following morning, the Moon shows a slimmer crescent and has moved
00:36between Saturn and Mars. The two planets are continuing to widen
00:40their separation, following a close conjunction in early April,
00:44where they appear super close in the sky. And if you have a clear view
00:48to the horizon, you might just catch a glimpse of Mercury rising in the hour before the Sun.
00:52It's shining pretty brightly, but it's also low
00:56in the sky and competing with dawn twilight, so it makes for a good challenge.
01:00Those in the southern hemisphere will have an easier time spotting Mercury
01:04as it rises a good bit higher in the sky for you.
01:08On May 23rd, the full Moon will appear quite close to the bright red star
01:12Antares in Scorpius as the pair rise.
01:16But for those on the east coast of the U.S., south of Delaware, and down
01:20through the whole state of Florida, you'll actually observe the Moon pass in front of
01:24Antares, an event called an occultation. Over a couple of hours
01:28as the pair rise into the night sky, the Moon will move slightly
01:32in its orbit, first obscuring and then revealing Antares.
01:36And finally, on May 31st, the planet Saturn rises
01:40in the wee hours of the morning with the crescent Moon in tow.
01:44If you're up early on the final day of May, you'll find the pair toward the southeast.
01:48They'll be close enough to appear in the same field of view if observing
01:52through binoculars. May brings one of two
01:56annual meteor showers that are attributed to Halley's Comet.
02:00The Eta Aquarid meteors are seen each year in May, whereas
02:04the Orionid meteors streak through our skies in October.
02:08This situation occurs because Earth crosses through
02:12Comet Halley's orbit twice every year in May and October.
02:16Along Halley's path is a meteor stream, lots of little
02:20grains of rock and dust cast off by the comet, and these strike
02:24our atmosphere and burn up as meteors. The shower peaks overnight
02:28on May 5th and into the morning of the 6th. You can see meteors from this shower
02:32the whole week centered around the peak night, though. The place on the sky
02:36where the meteors appear to originate, the radiant, is in the constellation
02:40Aquarius, so you'll have a chance to see meteors as long as the radiant is
02:44above the horizon, with more meteors the higher that point rises in the sky.
02:48This time of year Aquarius rises after midnight, so the time
02:52to watch this shower is in the few hours before dawn. This is a
02:56great shower for observers in the southern hemisphere. The radiant
03:00rises a good bit higher in the sky before morning twilight because in May,
03:04which is autumn there, nights are longer. Those in optimal
03:08dark sky conditions can see 40 meteors per hour.
03:12For northern hemisphere observers, it's less than half that amount, more like
03:1610-20 meteors per hour. It's still an above-average shower, though,
03:20especially with the peak this year being near a new moon, making for a
03:24darker sky. And with the warmer temperatures that come with springtime
03:28north of the equator, it can be a worthy shower to go out and enjoy.
03:32As always, to see the most meteors, find yourself a safe, dark
03:36spot away from bright lights and give your eyes a few minutes to adapt to the dark.
03:40Lie down with your feet pointed more or less toward the east and look
03:44straight overhead. Bring a warm drink and a friend or two and turn an
03:48early morning into a meteor morning as you search the skies for the
03:52Eta Aquarid meteors. Here are the phases of the
03:56moon for May. Stay up to date on NASA's
04:00missions exploring the solar system and beyond at science.nasa.gov.
04:04I'm Preston Dyches from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory,
04:08and that's What's Up for this month.
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