Updated May 3, 2024
NOTE: you can now follow the discussion below with a free planetarium program called Stellarium. To access the web version, go to https://stellarium-web.org/ and allow it to access your location to provide you with an accurate simulation of your nighttime sky. Experiment with it to learn more about the constellations mentioned below, and more.
The first object to become visible as night falls these early May evenings is Sirius, the bright, wintertime “dog star”, which is on its way out. It is low in the southwest at dusk and will get lower and lower with each passing day until it fades into the twilight glow in a few weeks.. As it gets dark, another asterism becomes visible along the western horizon. The “Spring Arch” is visible around dusk. It starts with setting Sirius in the west southwest, then up to Procyon directly above it. Continue to the Twins (Pollux and Castor) high in the western sky, then down to Capella low in the northwest. This will continue to sink as the evenings pass, eventually fading into the twilight glow within a month or so.
There is another asterism visible, standing upright in the southeast to south after dusk. This is called the “Great Diamond” and it is made with Spica at the bottom, then Arcturus at upper left, then Cor Caroli upper right from Arcturus. Then from Cor Caroli go lower right to Denebola at the tail end of Leo. Then back to Spica. This asterism is about 50 degrees tall and is above the horizon for much of the night. The bottom half of this diamond is yet another asterism, the Spring Triangle, a nearly perfect equilateral triangle.
The Pointer Stars of the Big Dipper are on the northern meridian and point straight down to Polaris at nightfall. From there, the Dipper rotates overhead and begins to descend toward the northwest as the night passes.
Arcturus is shining brightly high in the eastern sky these early May evenings. Attached to it, the narrow kite shape of Bootes is visible, extending 23 degrees to the left of Arcturus (with Arcturus sitting at the base of the kite). The left end of the kite is slightly bent up. Look right, fairly high in the southeast, almost parallel to the eastern horizon for another bright star, Spica. This star stands out but is not quite as bright as Arcturus.
The constellation Leo is starting to tilt down toward the western horizon but is still high in the sky. The Sickle of Leo tilts toward the right a bit, with the bottom marked by bright Regulus, the brightest star of Leo. One can find the head of the relatively faint but large constellation Hydra. Start at Pollux and Castor, which are high in the west these evenings, and draw a line through them, extending across for a length of 26 degrees. This is a subtle but distinct grouping of five stars, which will be faintly visible in dark, moonless skies. Binoculars help in light polluted situations. Continuing that line by another 15 degrees and you arrive at Alphard. The head of Hydra is also midway between Procyon and Regulus.
The constellations of spring are on full display these May evenings. They are joined by some of the summer constellations. Vega, the bright “Summer Star” is visible in the northeast at dusk. It is the leading star of the Summer Triangle, now becoming visible by mid-evening. Vega and Capella are situated at the same height above their respective horizons a little after dark: Capella is getting lower and lower with each passing evening while Vega gets higher and higher.
In the predawn sky, the waning crescent Moon works its way past Saturn and Mars with Pisces in the background. On the morning of May 4, the Moon is between Mars and Saturn, with Mars to its lower left and Saturn to its upper right. Then one day later the Moon is to the lower left of Mars. This is also the time that the eta Aquarid meteor shower is near its peak, best seen from the southern half of the United States and points south. The radiant is quite low, even as dawn begins, so that reduces the number of meteors seen. The source of this meteor shower is the famous Halley’s comet. On the morning of May 6, very low in the East is a very thin crescent Moon to the left of Mercury. A flat horizon and clear skies, along with a good pair of binoculars, are needed to see this. One day later, at exactly 10:22 pm CDT on May 7, is the New Moon.
Two days later, the waxing crescent Moon appears in the evening sky, very thin and very low in the west northwest at dust on May 8. It is much higher and more easily seen on the 9th and 10th as it passes through departing Taurus. Then on May 12, the thickening crescent Moon is just left of Pollux, making a line with Castor to the right. From the Central Time Zone, the line is perfect about one hour after full dark arrives.
Go to https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-news/observing-news/this-weeks-sky-at-a-glance-may-3-12/ for this week’s “Sky at a Glance”, where you will find the current “Sky at a Glance” (currently for the week ending May 12). There are lots of links to interesting news stories and additional observing projects. By the way, the eta Aquarid meteor shower peaks this weekend, during the predawn hours of May 5 and 6.
Solar observations continue as the Sun has now “erased” (through its rotation) the large number of sunspot groups that it had last week but it has “acquired” several more interesting groups. The latest images obtained from Prairie View Solar Observatory can be viewed at https://www.pvamu.edu/pvso/solar-observations-2024/.
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We observed two solar eclipses less than six months apart. Check out images from these celestial events at this site.
We observed and imaged the total lunar eclipsed that occurred during the predawn hours of 8 November 2022. The images and report can be viewed at https://www.pvamu.edu/pvso/cosmic-corner/total-lunar-eclipse-2022-1-2/. Partial lunar eclipse began at 3:09 am CST, total eclipse started at 4:16 am CST, maximum eclipse (when the Moon should appear darkest) at 4:59 am CST, total eclipse ended at 5:42 am CST, and partial eclipse finished at 6:49 am. The subtle penumbral shading was detectable some 30 to 40 minutes before and after the partial stages. Lots more information can be found at Sky and Telescope’s eclipse page.
Over a year ago, a Total Lunar Eclipse, with totality lasting nearly 85 minutes, was visible across North and South America (except the far northwest part of North America). Partial eclipse began at 9:28 pm CDT (May 15), totality began at 10:29 pm, mid eclipse was 11:12 pm, total eclipse ended at 11:54 pm and partial eclipse ended at 12:56 pm, CDT (May 16). We did observe the event and got pictures, check out this website for these.
Jupiter was hit by a meteor in 2021, see https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-news/jupiter-whacked-again-japanese-astronomers-record-possible-impact/, for more information on what is the 11th confirmed observation of a fireball to burn up in its atmosphere. We plan to organize a campaign to watch for fireballs in Venus’ atmosphere early this summer; check back for more details in the near future. There was another event documented on 28 August 2023. You can read all about it at this website.
The Perseverance rover continues to perform wonderful feats of science, from finding evidence of a raging river, to making 10 g of pure oxygen from the Martian air to watching a small drone helicopter take its 51st flight over the Martian wasteland. For more information on it and other activity on Mars, visit mars.jpl.nasa.gov. Also, Curiosity has returned some beautiful sunset pictures of cirrus-like clouds in the Martian sky.
Observations of the partial phase of the May 2021 lunar eclipse (taken with smartphone and a University telescope), along with unfiltered, stacked galaxy and cluster images, can be viewed from the project update website https://www.pvamu.edu/pvso/cosmic-corner/project-summary-2/. We are currently experiencing an extended spell of inclement weather, preventing much observing, but as conditions improve we plan to resume nighttime observations along with regular solar observations. Information on all the eclipses that will occur in 2022 can be found at this link.
The PVO complex has 3 domes, including the existing “Classic” Solar Observatory, and two new domes. For updates on this progress check out https://www.pvamu.edu/pvso/cosmic-corner/project-summary-2/. Also, more information and images can be viewed at https://sites.google.com/view/saganti-astro/home. The two newer domes contain our Meade 16-inch advanced telescope (east dome, an Astrohaven clamshell-type dome) and a new 0.6 meter (24-inch) PlaneWave Corrected Dall-Kirkham telescope (west dome, an Ash dome). The design features these two domes situated east and west of a visitor’s center, which is immediately north of the existing Solar Observatory. Work is planned to resume on the 24-inch in early 2024.