SkyEye: May 2006

Welcome to SkyEye, your guide to this month's celestial events. All times and dates are given in Universal Time (UT). Nightly darkness estimates are calculated for Greenwich, London (51.5° N, 0° W).

Calendar of Events - May 2006

Date		Event
1	Mon
2	Tue
3	Wed
4	Thu	Jupiter at opposition
5	Fri	First Quarter Moon
6	Sat	The Moon is setting just as the radiant of the Eta Aquariids meteor shower is rising, making this a good year to view this display.
7	Sun	Moon at apogee
8	Mon
9	Tue
10	Wed	Neptune at west quadrature
11	Thu	The Moon occults the first-magnitude star Spica but this event is only visible from parts of the Atlantic Ocean.
12	Fri
13	Sat	Full Moon
14	Sun	The Moon occults the first-magnitude star Antares. Observers in New Zealand and most of Australia should start watching from approximately 1400 UT.
15	Mon
16	Tue
17	Wed
18	Thu	Mercury at superior conjunction
19	Fri
20	Sat	First Quarter Moon
21	Sun	Only parts of the Antarctic will see the Moon occult Uranus.
22	Mon	Moon at apogee
23	Tue
24	Wed
25	Thu
26	Fri
27	Sat	New Moon
28	Sun
29	Mon
30	Tue
31	Wed

The Solar System

The word planet is derived from the Greek word for "wanderer." Unlike the background stars, planets seem to move around the sky, keeping mostly to a narrow track called the ecliptic, the path of the Sun across the stars.

Object	Location	Description
Sun	Aries -> Taurus
Mercury	Pisces -> Aries -> Taurus	Barely visible from the northern hemisphere and sinking fast when viewed from the southern hemisphere, this tiny planet disappears from the morning sky early in the month before undergoing superior conjunction on 18 May. It reappears at the end of the month low in the western sky after sunset.
Venus	Pisces -> Cetus -> Pisces	The "morning star" is still very high in the eastern sky for southern hemisphere observers but is sinking towards the horizon ever so slightly. It appears lower down from those viewing from the north but maintains altitude throughout the month.
Mars	Gemini	Look for the red planet in the west after sunset because it sets by mid-evening.
Jupiter	Libra	Jupiter is at opposition on 4 May so it is up all night.
Saturn	Cancer	The ringed planet sets around midnight so look for it in the west after evening twilight fades.
Uranus	Aquarius	Not far from its outer solar system neighbour, Uranus rises about an hour after Neptune.
Neptune	Capricornus	At west quadrature on 10 May, Neptune rises shortly after midnight.
Pluto	Serpens (Cauda)	With a brightness of around fourteenth magnitude, the smallest planet in the solar system can be seen only through a good-sized telescope. It is up most of the night as it approaches opposition next month.

The Celestial Sphere

Constellations are patterns of stars in the sky. The International Astronomical Union (IAU) recognises 88 different constellations. The brightest stars as seen from the Earth are easy to spot but do you know their proper names? With a set of binoculars you can look for fainter objects such as nebulae and galaxies or some of the closest stars to the Sun.

Descriptions of the sky for observers in both the northern and southern hemispheres are available for the following times this month. Subtract one hour from your local time if summer (daylight savings) time is in effect.

Local Time	Northern Hemisphere	Southern Hemisphere
1730 hours (1830 hours summer time)	45° N	30° S
1930 hours (2030 hours summer time)	45° N	30° S
2130 hours (2230 hours summer time)	45° N	30° S
2330 hours (0030 hours summer time)	45° N	30° S
0130 hours (0230 hours summer time)	45° N	30° S
0330 hours (0430 hours summer time)	45° N	30° S
0530 hours (0630 hours summer time)	45° N	30° S

For More Information...

Consult our online glossary for non-technical explanations of many of the astronomical terms used in these pages.
Blue moons, eclipses, the dates of Easter and much more can be found at the Interactive Astronomy Pages.
For more information about the objects and events described in SkyEye, visit these astronomy-related sites.

Credits

Much of this information can be found in this month's issue of your favourite amateur astronomy magazine available in your local bookshop. Another excellent source is the current edition of the Astronomical Calendar by Guy Ottewell and published by the Universal Workshop at Furman University.

The image of the Sun in the SkyEye banner is courtesy of the SOHO/EIT consortium. The composite image from May 1998 combines EIT images from three wavelengths (171Å, 195Å and 284Å) into one that reveals solar features unique to each wavelength. SOHO is a project of international cooperation between ESA and NASA.