Wednesday, May 07, 2025
Thursday May 8 to Thursday May 15
The Full Moon is Tuesday May 13. Jupiter and Mars are visible in the evening sky. Mars is high in the early evening sky. Look for the constellation Corona Borealis before midnight, the blaze star T Coronae Borealis (TCrB) may go Nova eventually. Saturn, Venus and Mercury are visible in the morning twilight. The eta Aquariid meteor shower still has good rates on the 8th.
The Full Moon is Tuesday May 13. The Moon is at apogee, when it is furthest from the earth, on the 11th.
Saturn is visible in the twilight near Venus with the crescent moon close to Mercury below.
The eta Aquariid meteor shower, which is produced by the debris from Halley’s Comet, should peak on May 7 (strictly speaking May 6, 3UT). dark sky sites could expect to see meteor every 3-4 minutes. Good rates will also be seen on the 8th.
If you look to the North just before midnight, you will see a prominent bright orange star, Arcturus, if you look northeast you will see a dainty circlet of stars. Corona Borealis, the northern crown. The blaze star T CrB is located on the right-hand side to the circlet, where the line of stars turns down, there are no other bright stars in the region, so when it erupts it will be easily visible. Viewing tips at my T CrB post.
Just above this is the asteroid Vesta, it was at opposition on the 2nd and theoretically visible to the unaided eye. it is roughly between the bright red Star Antares and Arcturus, two binocular widths from the bright star Beta Librae. See my opposition of Vesta page for more details and charts.
Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at roughly the equivalent local time (90 minutes after sunset).
Elsewhere in Australia will see a similar view at the equivalent time (90 minutes after sunset).
Mercury begins sinking in the morning twilight.
Venus climbs higher in the morning twilight. It is below Saturn.
Mars is high in the evening sky.
Jupiter is sinking in the the north-western evening sky when the sky is fully dark.
Saturn is rising in the morning the twilight.
Star Map via Virtual sky. Use your mouse to scroll around and press 8 when your pointer is in the map to set to the current time.
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/
Labels: weekly sky
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