Saturn, the ringed planet, reaches its brightest point on Saturday-Sunday night in the constellation of Libra. This is called opposition, and on such a day, being opposite the sun in the sky, Saturn will rise at sunset and set on the following sunrise. On the nights of May 13 and 14, the full moon will shine near Saturn and it will be easy to identify the planet as it will be the brightest ‘star’ closest to the moon.

Giant planet Jupiter, the king of the planets, continues to shine brightly in the western sky after sunset. It is now well past its opposition date and it will set earlier and earlier while becoming dimmer as it moves away from the earth as both planets continue on their orbits around the sun.

Today, the waxing crescent moon will be near Jupiter, but on Saturday, a bright waxing gibbous moon shines near the red planet Mars. During May, the brightness of Mars significantly decreases as the earth pulls ahead of Mars as they both orbit the sun, as happens with Jupiter.

There is more happening in the evening sky this month. Mercury will become visible in the west-northwest sky to the lower right of Jupiter, starting from mid-May. This small planet will reach its highest point above the horizon on May 24 and should remain visible in the evening sky through the end of May.

However, Mercury never rises very high in the sky due to it being so close to sun. Seeing it is a challenge, but once identified it is easier to spot again, so find an unobstructed view of the western horizon. I suggest using brighter Jupiter as a guidepost to finding Mercury. If you have never seen Mercury in the sky, the second half of this month is the time to see it.

Lastly, for early risers, Venus rises nearly two hours before sunrise in the morning sky during May. On the mornings of May 25 and 26, the pre-dawn southeastern sky will shine with brilliant Venus just below the crescent moon, though still quite low down.

Do not miss it!

Post your images of the night sky on the society’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/groups/maltastro.

Astronomical events this month

Date Event
   
Today The moon close to Jupiter (evening sky).
Wednesday First quarter moon.
Saturday Saturn closest to the earth at a distance of 1.33 billion kilometres.
Next Sunday The moon close to Mars (evening sky).
May 14 The moon close to Saturn (evening sky), full moon.
May 21 Last quarter moon.
May 24 Possible new meteor shower.
May 25 The moon close to Venus.
May 28 New moon.

Alexei Pace is president of the Astronomical Society of Malta.

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