Events, Moon, Planets in May Home Page Evènements du mois Monthly Sky Charts

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.Events .Moon .Planets .Minor Planets, NEOs .Comets .Shooting Stars .Occultations .Sun .check more! (occultations observers are advised to check in 'Events', and to turn to such dedicated sites like the I.O.T.A). don't forget to check the weather! For the US: the NOAA . color codes: Wwd worldwide, UsA USA-Americas, EuA Europe-Africa, AsP Asia-Pacific, Chk Check for Your Zone. check the site's concept and the instructions of use

Editor's Choice Fine Picture Archives Editor's Choice Sky At Tech News color codes: Wwd worldwide, UsA USA-Americas, EuA Europe-Africa, AsP Asia-Pacific, Chk Check for Your Zone. check the site's concept and the instructions of use

Events Home Page

.Events Seen All Month Long .Ephemerides Proper

(data from the former yearly ephemerides generator at Fred Espenak's NASA's eclipse website; miscellaneous data with the 'Astronomical Phenomena for The Year 2017,' a joint work by the United Kingdom Hydrographic Office and the U.S. Naval Observatory; to be found at the latter's site; all time UT except otherwise stated)

Wwd The stars of the Great Winter sky are seen West by twilight in the northern hemisphere and the Tropics. That is also true in the southern hemisphere somewhat shifted. Fine visual and photographic opportunities! Moon will come to add as Mars is also adding!

Great Winter Sky's stars are seen West by twilight! picture site 'Amateur Astronomy' based upon Stellarium

Wwd A curiosity, the Ariétides shooting stars active late May-early July as they are daytime meteors! more

1 Wwd Where Venus available like a morning star tomorrow morning, at all latitudes, very last crescent is seen close to it! Fine visual and photographic opportunities!

2 (1) Wwd Where Mercury available like a morning star tomorrow morning, at all latitudes, very last crescent is seen close to it as Venus is not that far! Fine visual and photographic opportunities!

Moon close to Venus and Mercury by dawn! Fine visual and photographic opportunities! picture site 'Amateur Astronomy' based upon the Stellarium software

2 (2) Wwd There is a occultation of minor planet Vesta today by Moon! check more at Occultations; check more too at such sites like "The International Occultation Timing Association" (I.O.T.A.)

5 Wwd The Eta Aquarids shooting stars usually are peaking May 5-6. One of the main shower in the year they are active April 19-May 28 check more back

7 UsA EuA First crescent, by all latitudes, is seen close to Mars in twilight. Fine! The show generally, is seen against the background of the bright stars of the Great Winter Sky!

Moon close to Mars in twilight! Starry Great Winter Sky behind! picture site 'Amateur Astronomy' based upon the Stellarium software

8 AsP First crescent, by all latitudes, is seen close to Mars in twilight. Fine! The show generally, is seen against the background of the bright stars of the Great Winter Sky! The show is also seen the day before!

9 Wwd Moon is at a ascending node at 18:50 UT as it also reaches a northernmost declination at 05:46 UT

10 UsA First quartered Moon, at all latitudes, is seen close to cluster M44, the Beehive! Fine visual and photographic opportunities!

Moon nicefully seen close to cluster M44, the Beehive! picture site 'Amateur Astronomy' based upon the Stellarium software

12 EuA AsP First Quarter, by all latitudes, is seen close to Regulus, the bright star to constellation Leo, the Lion. Fine!

First Quarter close to close to Regulus, the bright star to constellation Leo, the Lion. Fine! picture site 'Amateur Astronomy' based upon the Stellarium software

13 Wwd Moon is at its perigee at 21:53 UT (distances non available)

15 UsA Waxing gibbous Moon, at all latitudes, is seen close to Spica, the bright star to constellation Virgo, the Virgin

16 AsP Moon near full, by all latitudes, is seen close to Spica, the bright star to constellation Virgo, the Virgin

19 Wwd There is a occultation of minor planet Ceres today by Moon! check more at Occultations; check more too at such sites like "The International Occultation Timing Association" (I.O.T.A.)

22 (1) Wwd Moon is at a descending node at 19:12 UT, as it also reaches a southernmost declination at 06:41 UT

22 (2) Wwd There is a occultation of Saturn today by Moon! check more at Occultations; check more too at such sites like "The International Occultation Timing Association" (I.O.T.A.)

23 Wwd There is a occultation of Pluto today by Moon! check more at Occultations; check more too at such sites like "The International Occultation Timing Association" (I.O.T.A.)

26 Wwd Moon is at its apogee at 13:27 UT (distances non available)

30 Wwd There is a occultation of minor planet Vesta today by Moon! check more at Occultations; check more too at such sites like "The International Occultation Timing Association" (I.O.T.A.)

Occultations observers are advised to turn to such dedicated sites like the I.O.T.A as they may also check below at our Occultation section

Moon Home Page

New Moon is on May 4th, at 22:45 UT
First Quarter is on May 12th, at 01:12 UT
Full Moon is on May 18th, at 21:11 UT
Last Quarter is on May 26th, at 16:33 UT

(source: ephemeris generator at Fred Espenak's NASA's eclipse website)

Planets Home Page

for what a remarkable configuration of a planet is, check our tutorial 'Planets Apparent Motion'

Mercury is reaching a superior conjunction on May 21st, at 12:59. It remains a mean morning star at the Tropics, and a relatively fine one in the southern hemisphere during the first week of May, and tending to its conjunction after that. It is not available at all in the northern hemisphere. check more about such the remarkable configuration of a planet in our tutorial 'Planets Apparent Motion'

Venus is not observable -- as too low -- in the northern hemisphere, as morning star. It is about a altitude of 12 degree at the Tropics, and somewhat higher in the southern hemisphere

Venus a morning star at the Tropics and the southern hemisphere only! site 'Amateur Astronomy' sur la base du logiciel Stellarium

Mars is a evening star worldwide, at the 1.7th magnitude

Mars a 1.7th-magnitude evening star worldwide! site 'Amateur Astronomy' sur la base du logiciel Stellarium

Jupiter Tending to its Best! is closing to its year's best as the gas giant is to reach a opposition next June 10th. Jupiter now is rising as soon as by 11 p.m. local time in the northern hemisphere, 8:30 p.m. at the Tropics or 7:30 p.m. in the southern hemisphere. check more about such the remarkable configuration of a planet in our tutorial 'Planets Apparent Motion'

Jupiter closing to its year's best! site 'Amateur Astronomy' sur la base du logiciel Celestia

Saturn is now rising by 0:45 a.m. local time in the northern hemisphere, 10:30 p.m. at the Tropics, and 9:40 p.m. in the southern hemisphere. Following a ring aperture maximum, rings now are closing

Uranus, after a conjunction last month, has not reappeared nowhere for observation

Neptune is rising by 3:30 a.m. local time, in the northern hemisphere, 2:20 a.m. at the Tropics, and 2:05 a.m. in the southern hemisphere

Pluto is now rising by 0:45 a.m. local time in the northern hemisphere, 10:30 p.m. at the Tropics, and 9:40 p.m. in the southern hemisphere. (according to the International Astronomical Union (IAU) since 2006, Pluto is not considered a planet anymore, but categorized like a dwarf planet instead along with Ceres, Eris, Makemake, and Haumea, and the prototype of a new category of 'trans-Neptunian', 'Pluto-class' objects)

Minor Planets, NEOs Home Page

.Minor Planets .Nearest NEOs

Minor Planets

Minor planets are those biggest asteroids in the Asteroid Belt which may be easily observed by amateurs from the Earth, namely Ceres, Pallas, Juno, and Vesta (due to the new categorization by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) by 2006, Ceres belongs to the 5 dwarf planets in the solar system with Pluto, Eris, Makemake, and Haumea). check data and charts at our section Minor Planets on the yearly Calendar page as our tutorial 'Asteroids and Asteroid Hunting' is of help too. Any remarkable event linked to a minor planet may have a notice here below

Ceres is reaching its opposition by May 28th, at the 7th magnitude. more about Ceres in 2019 at our "Minor Planets in 2019"

Nearest NEOs

Some small asteroids dubbed Near-Earth Objects (NEOs) are regularly making close approaches at Earth. People interested in such close approaches may obtain recent and upcoming data at NASA site Near-Earth Object Program (their section "Close Approaches"). Date, miss distance in AU or Lunar Distance (LD), estimated diameter, and relative velocity are available. For further observational purposes, check at the Near-Earth Object Program ephemeris Generator. For more about NEOs see tutorial "About NEOs"

Comets Home Page

Once every time, the solar system treats us with a remarkable comet, a eery view spanning up to thirty degrees of sky! Most of the time however comets are the domain of dedicated observers as mostly weak and, at the most, hovering at the limit of the naked-eye visibility. A good site to get information about current such comets is the British Astronomical Association Comet Section page or also the Weekly Information about Bright Comets page (which often points to comets close to the visual magnitude). Our 'Comets and Comet Hunting' tutorial will also be helpful. Remarkable comets otherwise usually will be presented below!

Shooting Stars Home Page

->note: shooting stars afficionados will be aware of checking Moon at the dates of the showers

• Eta Aquarids back are active Apr. 19-May 28 as they usually have their peak on May 5-6. Their radiant is at R.A. 338° and dec. +1°. They have a hourly rate of 60, which makes them an important shower in the year. The shower is best viewed from the southern hemisphere
• Curious? Arietids back are active late May-early July as they are daytime meteors, which means they are active during the day as none are seen at night. Their radiant is in constellation Aries, the Ram broadly as they might have like an originator sungrazing asteroid 1566 Icarus. They have a wopping hourly rate of the thousands
• Shooting stars afficionados may turn to such dedicated sites like IMO, The International Meteor Organization for more about the above and about possible minor showers this month

for more about the meteor showers of this month, for possible other meteor showers for this month, and for more about shooting stars, generally, see our tutorial "Shooting Stars"

Occultations Home Page

Each month, Moon occults some relatively bright stars, that is the Moon, beginning either with its bright or its dark visible face, is passing in front of a star. This is called an occultation. The Pleiades, on the other hand, due to their position near the eclipic, are often occulted by Moon too. Some planets, at last, along the year, may be occulted by Moon or they themselves, or their satellites, may be seen too occulting a star. The asteroids too may occult stars. Yearly lists of such phenomenons are to be found at Sky & Telescope/SkyTonight.com, either in their newsstand issues or at their site, as a list of occultations of most brilliant stars, the planets and the Pleiades are available at the I.O.T.A site (I.O.T.A. stands for "The International Occultation Timing Association"). Most notable occultations are signaled below

The configuration of Moon makes 2019 a great year of occultations of planets and minor planets by the Moon as, amazingly none of the bright stars usually occulted by Moon, like Aldebaran, Antares, Regulus or Spica, will be!

Minor planet Vesta back is occulted by Moon on May 2nd, 2018 by 13:00 UT! The show is available for the Galapagos Is., N. South America, the Azores, the Cape Verde Is., N.W. Africa, and S. Europe. Vesta will be at the 8.2 magnitude. check more at such sites like "The International Occultation Timing Association" (I.O.T.A.)

Minor planet Ceres back is occulted by Moon on May 19th, 2018 by 18:00 UT! The show is available for parts of Antarctica. Ceres will be at the 7.2th magnitude. check more at such sites like "The International Occultation Timing Association" (I.O.T.A.)

Saturn back is occulted by Moon on May 22nd, 2018 by 22:00 UT! The show is available for the S. tip of Africa, parts of E. Antarctica, the Kerguelen Is., most of Australia, and S. New Zealand. check more at such sites like "The International Occultation Timing Association" (I.O.T.A.)

Pluto back is occulted by Moon on May 23rd, 2018 by 04:00 UT! The show is available for Central South America, S. and E. Africa. check more at such sites like "The International Occultation Timing Association" (I.O.T.A.)

Minor planet Vesta back is occulted by Moon on May 30th, 2018 by 22:00 UT! The show is available for parts of Indonesia, E. Asia, N.W. Micronesia, the Aleutian Is., and N.W. North America. Vesta will be at the 8.3th magnitude. check more at such sites like "The International Occultation Timing Association" (I.O.T.A.)

check on this site for more about occultations, theoretically

Sun Home Page

click to last Sun