Only two planets appear in the night sky this month. Before dawn low in the twilight you will see Saturn and Mars. The southern part of the heavens is dominated by the brilliant orange star Arcturus. Well to its lower right, are the blue-white stars Spica and Regulus. But the region to the left of Arcturus boats only the faint stars of two giant constellations, Ophiuchus and Hercules.
Stars:-
May is the first month when the constellation of Orion is absent from the night sky altogether, and of the prominent winter stars only Capella in Auriga the Charioteer and Castor and Pollux in Gemini remain above the western horizon. The Plough or Ursa Major (the Great Bear) is still more or less overhead with the pointers pointing to the North Star. The ‘W’ of Cassiopeia is now very low down although still easily visible in the north western sky.
It is also a good month to look for another of the circumpolar constellations; Draco the Dragon. Circumpolar constellations such as the Plough, Cassiopeia and Draco are visible all year around; this is because these stars are above the Earth in space.
Draco is represented by a stream of stars that winds its way around the North Star, so although it has no really bright stars it is still quite easy to identify. The stream starts roughly between the pointers of the Plough and the North Star, then winds its way past the Plough making off in the general direction of Cepheus.
It then turns and ends up at the ‘Dragon’s Head’, a quadrilateral of four stars near the bright star Vega, which is one of the stars that forms the Summer Triangle.
There is one notable star to mention in Draco and this is Thuban, which is not prominent in brightness and is located between Mizar, in the Plough, and the orange star Kocab, in Ursa Minor.
Use the Plough, to draw a line down following the curve of the handle to the bright orange star Arcturus in Bootes the Herdsman which is now very high up. Your downward curve will take you to Spica in Virgo the Virgin. Both Arcturus and Spica are almost due south.
High in the South West can be found Leo the Lion with its bright star Regulus, at the base of a distinctive looking ‘backwards question mark’ of stars. The small quadrilateral of stars that form Corvus the Crow is still quite conspicuous low in the south, while further to the south west and low down is the orange star Alphard, the brightest star in the constellation of Hydra the Water Snake. Alphard is often called ‘The Solitary One’ because of the lack of bright stars near it.
In the North East, two of the stars that form the summer triangle can be seen; Vega, in Lyra the Lyre, has reached a respectable altitude and Deneb in Cygnus the Swan is now becoming noticeable. The third point in the triangle, Altair in Aquila the Eagle, has yet to appear.
Planets:-
After the planetary famine at the end of last month, two of our major neighbouring solar system worlds appear. The remaining planets will be lost in the glare of the Sun.
SATURN
The ring world is the first to come into view, rising around 3am. Saturn is located in Aquarius, shinning at magnitude +1.1. On the mornings of the 4th and again on the 31st of this month Saturn will be close to the slender crescent Moon.
MARS
The red planet will also be at magnitude +1.1 and will be appearing above the horizon around 4am. Mars will be located in Pisces.
PLUTO
Can be found in the constellation of Capricornus. It will always be low down in the west and only visible in a ten-inch or larger telescope in a truly dark sky for a short period of time. Pluto rises above the horizon about 1.50am and has a magnitude of +14.5.
CERES
The largest object in the asteroid belt can be located in the constellation of Sagittarius this month. At Magnitude +8.23 it rises around 1.20am and will be viable for the remaining dark hours.
Special Events:-
Halley’s Comet reappears this month!. Well not the actual beast, but dirt from its skirt which burns up above our heads as a shower called the Eta Aquarids. This shower, which will peak in the early hours of the mornings of the 5th and 6th of May is predicted to be unusually intense this year. There will be a New Moon a few days after the peak so it should be a good year to observe the show.
Phases of the Moon: –
Last quarter 1st May
New Moon 8th May
First quarter 15th May
Full Moon 23rd May