Astroblog: Thursday May 21 to Thursday May 28

Tuesday, May 19, 2026

Thursday May 21 to Thursday May 28

The First Quarter Moon is Saturday May 23. In the morning Saturn and Mars form a line. Venus now is seen when the sky is fully dark and is coming closer to Jupiter. The pair are attractive in the late twilight. on the 28th Venus is very close to Epsilon Geminorum.The First Quarter Moon is very close to the bright star Regulus on the 23rd.

The First Quarter Moon is Saturday May 23.

Eastern horizon on the morning of Saturday, May 23 as seen from Adelaide at 6:10 ACST (60 minutes before sunrise, click to embiggen).

Saturn and Mars form a line in the twilight. Saturn is now high enough for telescopic observation, and its rings are widening.

The inset shows the telescopic view of Saturn at this time.

Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at roughly the equivalent local time (60 minutes before sunrise).

Western sky on the evening of Saturday, May 23 as seen from Adelaide at 18:14 ACST ( 60 minutes after sunset, click to embiggen).

Venus is visible above the western horizon coming closer to Jupiter. Venus is now visible when the sky is fully dark, by the end of the week Venus will be very close to Epsilon Geminorum as it rises.

The inset shows the telescopic views of Jupiter and Saturn at this time.

The nearby First Quarter Moon is very close to the bright star Regulus.

Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at roughly the equivalent local time (60 minutes after sunset).

Whole sky on Saturday, May 23 as seen from Adelaide at 18:45 ACST, 90 minutes after sunset (click to embiggen).

Jupiter and Venus are prominent low in the north-west.

Bright Canopus and Sirius are sinking from the Zenith. Orion is now low in the north-western horizon as Orion's Nemesis, Scorpius, rises above the south-eastern horizon.

The Southern Cross is rising in the Southern sky. The moon waxing and the fainter clusters and nebula are becoming harder to see.

Elsewhere in Australia will see a similar view at the equivalent time (90 minutes after sunset).

Mercury is lost in the twilight.

Venus climbs higher in the evening twilight and is now visible when the sky is fully dark. Venus is coming closer to Jupiter.

Mars is climbing in the twilight.

Jupiter is low above the horizon, setting in the early evening. Jupiter forms a broad triangle with the bright stars Betelgeuse and Procyon, and a narrower triangle with the stars Castor and Pollux.

Saturn is climbing in the twilight above Mars.

Printable PDF maps of the Eastern sky at 10 pm ACST, Western sky at 10 pm ACST. For further details and more information on what's up in the sky, see Southern Skywatch.

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