Friday, April 29, 2022
Southern Skywatch May 2022 edition is now out!
Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at the equivalent local time (90 minutes before sunrise, click to embiggen).
The May edition of Southern Skywatch
is now up. The planetary action is in the morning sky with four bright planets, Venus, Mars, Saturn and Jupiter in the morning sky.
May 1; Venus and Jupiter spectacularly close in the morning sky. May 1; New Moon. May 2; Mercury and thin crescent Moon close low above western horizon in the evening. May 5; apogee Moon. 7-8 May; Eta Aquariid meteor shower. May 5-9; Saturn and Asteroid Vesta close. May 9; First Quarter Moon. May 16; Full Moon. May 18; perigee Moon. May 18; Neptune and Mars at their closest. May 23; Last Quarter Moon. May 22-23; the waning Moon is close to Saturn. May 25; the crescent Moon forms a triangle with Mars and Jupiter. May 27; the thin crescent Moon is above Venus. May 28-31; Mars and Jupiter close.
Mercury returns to the evening sky late in the month but is barely visible above the horizon deep in the twilight.
Venus starts the month spectacularly close to Jupiter on the 1st. The pair will be 0.2° apart and will fit into the field of view of medium power telescope eye pieces. The phase of Venus, Jupiter’s bands and its Moons should be visible. At this time the pair form a line with Saturn and Mars, with Jupiter below, easily seen an hour and a half before sunrise. After this spectacular paring, Venus sinks towards the horizon over the month as Jupiter rises towards Mars. On May 27 the thin crescent Moon is above Venus.
Mars
is high the morning sky in May, Mars makes an attractive line with Saturn, Venus and Jupiter at the beginning of the month, and is readily visible an hour an hour and a half before sunrise, above bright Venus and Jupiter. Over the month Jupiter rises towards Mars. Mars's reddish colour contrasting with the yellowish colour of Jupiter and the bright white of Venus.
On the 18th and 19th Mars passes within 0.7 ° of Neptune, the pair potentially visible in binoculars and medium field telescope eye pieces. From the 28th to the 31st Mars and Jupiter are within 1 ° (around a finger width) of each other. They are closest on the 30th, when at 0.7 ° apart the pair visible in binoculars and medium field telescope eye pieces (Jupiter’s moons will be visible, but details on Jupiter harder to see, Mars will be a featureless disk). On May 25 the crescent Moon forms a triangle with Mars and Jupiter.
Jupiter continues to rise higher in the morning sky. Jupiter starts the month spectacularly close to Venus on the 1st. The pair will be 0.2° apart and will fit into the field of view of medium power telescope eye pieces. The phase of Venus, Jupiter’s bands and its Moons should be visible. After this spectacular paring, Venus sinks towards the horizon over the month as Jupiter rises towards Mars. From the 28th to the 31st Mars and Jupiter are within 1 ° (around a finger width) of each other. They are closest on the 29th, when at 0.7 ° apart the pair visible in binoculars and medium field telescope eye pieces (Jupiter’s moons will be visible, but details on Jupiter harder to see, Mars will be a featureless disk).
Saturn climbs higher in the morning sky and is readily visible an hour and a half before sunrise. Saturn is a worthwhile telescope object this month. Between the 5th and 9th Saturn is within 1 ° of the asteroid 4 Vesta, and should be easily seen with binoculars and wide field telescope eye pieces, Saturn’s rings will just be visible, Vesta will be a bright dot that moves night to night. On the May 22 and 23; the waning Moon is close to Saturn.
Moon: May 5; apogee Moon and May 18; perigee Moon.Labels: southern skywatch
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