This month has some great stuff going on at night! We pass through the trail of a comet on the 24th and that could make for quite the display. More planets are poking their heads up, too.
The dissertation went in last Monday, hence the lack of blog, so apologies for that. But I’m so glad it has gone in.
Second point: May the fourth be with you.
Okay, with the formalities over, let’s get to it.
Planets
Mosaic image of Mercury (ESA)
Saturn (NASA)
The two reigning planets are moving off the front of the show- Mars is still around but will begin to fade, and Jupiter is above the moon at the moment and will be nearby for a few days. Saturn takes centre stage as it moves into opposition on the 10th and is shining brightly below and to the east of Mars- possibly a little close to the horizon, especially if, like me, you have city lights to the south. If you have a telescope, it’s definitely worth taking a look as the rings are really visible due to the angle Saturn is at relative to us lately, and you’ll possibly even see a few of its moons. Saturn has always been my favourite, it is so dramatic, one of those ones you dream of seeing loom large on the horizon whilst stood on the surface of one of the moons. (I’d pick Enceladus given the latest news of water beneath its surface!)
Venus is a pre dawn delight for you crazy early birds, rising about an hour before dawn, Mercury will be brightening- best viewings for that one will be later in the month towards the west, and there’s a full moon on May 14th.
Meteoric May
The best thing about May is not one, but possibly two meteor showers. The Eta Aquarids, peaking tonight and tomorrow night, though since Aquarius is currently below the horizon in the East as I write this, you might only glimpse them in the northern hemisphere just before sunrise- if you’re up then make sure you look! The second one is hopefully going to be incredible, with astronomers saying there could be up to 1000 an hour! Eyes peeled on the 24th for that high in the northern sky. This is very tentative though; earth is going to sail through the debris tail of a comet (209P/LINEAR) and so we don’t really know too much of what might happen. I’ll definitely be going somewhere rural just in case though; this is a rare treat and it could be spectacular! For more meteor typed news, check out meteorwatch.org!
If you manage to get any pictures please share them with us!
Keep tuned for all sorts of fun things happening in spacetime and check out the Astronomy & Space page for more fun stuff.
Girl & Stars 