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TONIGHT'S SKY
Tonight's Sky
The sky is not a painting, it's a movie. Stars pulse, flare, some explode as supernova, asteroids whiz by the earth, new comets appear in the sky, Aurora sets the northern skies ablaze and meteors streak through Earth's atmosphere.
See Hubble site Tonight's Sky movie with narration below. Just click on photo. You will need Macromedia Flash.
MAY FULL MOON
Full Flower Moon - May In most areas, flowers are abundant everywhere during this time. Thus, the name of this Moon. Other names include the Full Corn Planting Moon, or the Milk Moon.
| New Moon | May 5 | 8:18 am EDT |
| First Quarter Moon | May 11 | 11:47 pm EDT |
| Full Moon | May 19 | 10:11 pm EDT |
| Last Quarter Moon | May 27 | 10:57 pm EDT |
The Planets Visibility for May
Mercury
Mercury is at its best for the month of May this year. Look in the west-northwest after sunset. At a midmonth it is at magnitude -0.6 with a diameter of 8.5 and has a phase of 31.9.
Venus
Venus is in conjunction with the Sun and is too close to the Sun to be seen.
Mars
Mars at a
midmonth is at magnitude +1.4 with a diameter of 5.1 and is in the
constellation Cancer. On the 22nd and
23rd Mars locates within the Beehive star cluster. Mars makes for
very poor observing due to it's distance from Earth.
To see which part of the
surface is visible at any time, check out the Mars
Profiler at Sky & Telescope Magazine's web page.
JUPITER
Jupiter
midmonth shines at magnitude -2.4 and has a diameter of 43.1 and is visible in the morning sky
rising around 12 am in the southeast
in the eastern part of the constellation Sagittarius. On the 24th of May Jupiter
will be 3 degrees from the gibbous Moon. Jupiter grows larger and brighter
reaching a July opposition.
Check out Sky &
Telescope's Jupiter
Moons Utility for other configurations. Sky and Telescope
Red Spot Calculator
SATURN
Saturn at midmonth is located in the southeastern evening sky and at midmonth has a magnitude of +0.6 and a diameter of 18.2 and is located in the constellation Leo the Lion, and sets around 2:30 am. Saturn will be about two degrees from the star Regulus and remains close for the month. A small telescope will reveal the rings of Saturn. Saturn's rings are becoming less tilted now at 9.9 and closing and becoming edge on in December with a ring tilt of only 0.9 making them difficult to see.
URANUS
Uranus midmonth is at magnitude +5.8, and a diameter of 3.4"between the constellations Aquarius and Pisces rising around 3 am midmonth in the southeastern sky before dawn.
NEPTUNE
Neptune midmonth is at magnitude +7.9, diameter of 2.3" is near the constellation Capricornus and rises around 2 am midmonth in the southeastern sky.
Dwarf Planets
Pluto
Pluto midmonth is magnitude +13.9, diameter 0.1" and locates in northwestern Sagittarius rising around 10:30 in the southeast.
MAY COMETS BRIGHTER THAN 10th MAGNITUDE
Comet 17/P Holmes
The comet locates in the constellation Auriga in the evening western sky. The comet is reported at 5.6 magnitude and 60 arc-minutes in diameter and difficult to see as it is do diffused.
C/2007 W1 ( Boattini )
This comet is getting brighter fast. Now located below the constellation Hydra low in the western sky in midmonth at magnitude 6.9 and will be observable until May 25, then the comet will dip south during late May as it reaches perihelion on June 23 and then head North again as it swings around the Sun reappearing in the July morning sky possibly at 5.5 magnitude.
For more on Comets and locations see: Seiichi Yoshida web site here.
METEORS
The Eta Aquarid meteors peak on the night of May 5. Rates well above the typical 30 meteors per hour are possible. The sky will be Moonless and for Northern hemisphere observers the radiant lies low in the east before dawn.
Some local links below to Heavens Above satellite information website.
Satellites visible from Hanover
Satellites visible from Gettysburg
Satellites visible from Lancaster
Satellites visible from Baltimore
Satellites visible from Harrisburg
The Sun
The dial below is linked live to the Ace Spacecraft. If the dial on the left (Magnetic Field) has dipped below zero, the speed is high and the dial dynamic pressure is in the yellow/red, be alert for Aurora. Anytime the gauges are in the Red and the dial on the left, the Magnetic Field BZ has dipped to the yellow-red... Aurora will be occurring in our area. Below link to the REAL TIME SOLAR WIND
Solar Wind Dials
See Hubble Tonight's Sky site.