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Tuesday, April 30, 2019

 

The Sky This Week - Thursday May 2 to Thursday May 9

The New Moon is Sunday May 5. Saturn climbs higher in the late evening skies. Mars is visible low in the evening skies between the horns of Taurus the Bull. Mars is visited by the crescent Moon on the 8th.  Jupiter is low in the late evening skies. The morning skies feature four bright planets Jupiter, Saturn, bright Venus and Mercury.Venus and Mercury are visited by the thin crescent Moon on May the 2nd and 3rd. Eta Aquariid meteor shower on the mornings of 6th-8th.

The New Moon is Sunday May 5.

Morning  sky on Thursday, May 2 looking east as seen from Adelaide at 5:56 ACST (60 minutes before sunrise).  Four bright planets can be seen. Jupiter and Saturn are high above the northern horizon. Venus and Mercury are close with the thin Crescent Moon above Venus, making an attractive line-up.



 Similar views will be seen elsewhere in Australia at the equivalent local time (60 minutes before sunrise).

Sky at 23:00 ACST on Saturday, May 4  looking east as seen from Adelaide. Jupiter is low above the eastern horizon. The left upper insert inset shows the telescopic view of Jupiter at this time, the left lower insert that of Saturn. 




Similar views will be seen elsewhere in Australia at the equivalent local time.


Morning sky on Thursday May 7 looking east as seen from Adelaide at 4:00 am ACST.  The radiant of the eta Aquariid meteor shower is shown.   Similar views will be seen elsewhere in Australia at the equivalent local time. (click to embiggen).

The eta Aquariids meteor shower, the debris from Halleys comet, will peak on May 6 UT . However, the best rates will be seen from Australia on the mornings of the 7th and 8th. This si a good year for the Aquariids, with Moon-free skies and a higher than usual rate.

You may see between 1-3 meteors every three minutes between 4-5 am.


Evening sky on Wednesday, May 8  as seen looking north-west from Adelaide at 18:24 ACST (60 minutes after sunset). Mars is  is between the stars Alnath and Zeta Taurii which mark the tips of Taurus the Bulls horns. The crescent Moon is just above Mars.


Similar views will be seen throughout Australia at the equivalent local time (60 minutes after sunset, click to embiggen).

Morning  sky on Friday, May 3 looking east as seen from Adelaide at 5:57 ACST (60 minutes before sunrise). Venus and Mercury are close with the thin Crescent Moon forming a triangle with them.





Similar views will be seen elsewhere in Australia at the equivalent local time (60 minutes before sunrise).



Venus is still bright in the morning skies below Jupiter and Saturn and above Mercury. Mercury moves away from Venus over the week. The thin crescent Moon is above Venus on May the 2nd and forms a triangle with Venus and Mercury on the 3rd.

Mercury  is now sinking in the morning sky but is still visible below Venus  as it leaves Venus behind. The thin crescent Moon is above Venus on May the 2nd forming a line with Mercury and on the 3rd it forms a triangle with Venus and Mercury .

Jupiter  Jupiter is now visible in the mid evening sky. Although is now a good telescope target it is still at its best in the morning.

Mars continues moving through Taurus. On the 8th Mars is  is between the stars Alnath and Zeta Taurii which mark the tips of Taurus the Bulls horns. The crescent Moon is just above Mars at this time. Mars sets around 8:00pm.

Saturn  has entered the evening sky but it still best for telescopic viewing in the early morning.
 Printable PDF maps of the Eastern sky at 10 pm AEDST, Western sky at 10 pm AEDST. For further details and more information on what's up in the sky, see Southern Skywatch.

Cloud cover predictions can be found at SkippySky.

Here is the near-real time satellite view of the clouds (day and night) http://satview.bom.gov.au/

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