We have an exciting month ahead with a total eclipse of the moon visible across the entire continental U.S., an evening comet that may become bright enough to see in binoculars and a possible rare outburst of an otherwise obscure meteor shower.
*Note: When “a.m.” follows the date, it refers to an event visible in the morning sky after midnight. All times are Central Daylight Time (CDT).
Events:
May 1-7 – Mercury visible low in the northwestern sky an hour after sunset. Use binoculars and look for a solitary bright “star” about 8°-10° high. The planet fades during this time, so see it soon!
May 1-4 − On May 1, use binoculars to search for Comet PanSTARRS (C/2021 O3) located one binocular field of view (5°) to the right of Mercury. Look for a fuzzy star with a short, faint tail pointing upward. The comet moves quickly higher in the coming nights but fades. Google my Astro Bob blog for details and updates.
May 1-4 (a.m.) – Venus and Jupiter, the two brightest planets, shine close together low in the southeastern sky about an hour before sunrise.
May 6 (a.m.) – Peak of the Eta Aquarid meteor shower. Best in the southern hemisphere but northern observers can see 10-15 meteors per hour shooting out of Aquarius in the eastern sky between about 3 and 4:30 a.m.
May 6 – Waxing crescent moon shines just to the left of the stars Pollux and Castor, the Gemini twins.
May 8 − First quarter moon
May 15-16 − Full Flower Moon. Total lunar eclipse! It’s completely safe to view, and no equipment is needed.
Partial phase begins – 9:28 p.m. (May 15)
Total eclipse begins − 10:29 p.m.
Mid-eclipse − 11:12 p.m.
Total eclipse ends – 11:54 p.m.
Partial eclipse ends – 12:56 a.m. (May 16)
May 22 – Last quarter moon
May 25 (a.m.) – Waning crescent moon, Jupiter and Mars gather in a compact bunch an hour or so before sunrise low in the southeastern sky.
May 27 (a.m.) – Wafer-thin waning crescent moon near Venus low in the southeastern sky about an hour before sunrise.
May 28-30 (a.m.) – Jupiter and Mars pair up low in the southeastern sky about an hour to 90 minutes before sunrise. They’ll be in conjunction and closest − just 0.5° (one full-moon diameter)apart − on May 29.
May 30-31 – Tau Herculids meteor shower. The recent breakup of the comet responsible for this shower may create a rich display of fainter meteors (50 or more per hour) around midnight on the night of May 30-31. They’ll appear to come from a point in the sky north of the bright star Arcturus. Try to observe from a dark sky. May 30 – New moon
Download a free, monthly star map at skymaps.com
Lunar Eclipse
Bob King is an amateur astronomer, author, and passionate educator. He served as a photographer and photo editor at the Duluth News Tribune for 39 years and taught at the UMD planetarium. Bob’s work had a great impact on Voyageurs National Park. To achieve International Dark Sky Park certification, the park was required to host dark sky education events. Through the Night Sky Explorer webinars, the Conservancy was able to fulfill this component and help secure the certification for Voyageurs National Park. We can’t thank Bob King enough for sharing his talents and knowledge with the Conservancy community to support dark sky preservation.
