Home » Science & Nature » Stargazing » Stargazing For Beginners - May

Stargazing For Beginners - May

© Barbara Muscolo

The May skies this year bring an end to our planetary extravaganza, the appearance of two comets, and the first glimpse of the summer constellations.

Venus continues to dominate the early evening sky. Shining at magnitude -4.5, it is at its peak brightness for this apparition. Venus is the bright "star" in the western sky after sunset. It is so bright that it is often mistaken for a UFO, especially since it seems to "follow" cars. Try watching it from a moving car. See how Venus seems to "chase" you, zigzagging through the sky. Many people who observe it believe that a UFO is chasing them. Venus will drop rapidly through the sky this month, getting ready to pass between the earth and the sun. Venus will transit (pass across the face of) the sun in June 2004, its first such transit since 1882.

Mars is visible in the western evening sky, but it has faded to magnitude 1.7, and its disk has shrunk - even in a large telescope, you can't see any details. Mars will pair with Saturn on May 24. The most interesting sights on Mars now are the pictures still being transmitted by the Mars Rovers.

Saturn is still an impressive object. If you have access to a telescope, take a look at it now. You can spot the planet's shadow falling on the rings, making a three dimensional effect. Saturn will soon be gone from the evening sky, but this summer, the Cassini spacecraft will rendezvous with the ringed planet in order to study Saturn, its rings and its moons.

Jupiter continues to be a bright object. Jupiter provides a lot to see through both binoculars and a telescope. If you have access to a telescope, you can watch the atmospheric cloud details change quite frequently. At times, the moons of Jupiter cast shadows on the planet. The moons also pass behind Jupiter. In binoculars, you can watch the position of the moons change from night to night.

Two comets are going to be visible this month, Comet C/2001 Q4 (NEAT), and Comet C/2002 T7 (LINEAR). Comet Q4 is putting on an impressive show for those in the Southern Hemisphere, but by mid-May it will be climbing higher in the night sky and will be visible for those in the Northern Hemisphere. On May 14 and 15, Q4 skirts M44, the Beehive Cluster, in the western sky after dark. It will also be impressive the weekend of May 22, and might possibly have brightened enough to be seen with the naked eye. It will begin to climb in the sky and become a circumpolar object through 2005. Observers with binoculars should be able to see it until September. Comet T7 will be harder to view. Those in the Northern Hemisphere who would like to see this comet will need to wake up early and will also need a flat, unobstructed landscape. Looking east almost at morning's twilight, Comet T7 will be a few degrees above the horizon. It will be difficult to see this month, but by June will be an evening object for Northern Hemisphere observers. Those in the South get a better look at it in May. Please check my links page for an article listing some comet, planet, and constellation links, including comet position star charts.