What’s Up in the Night Sky? May 2023

Fred Barrett | May 03, 2023

No spectacular astronomical events are expected this month unless you count pointing your eyes up at the night sky and having an entire universe to investigate. Sadly, that’s becoming more difficult as light pollution decreases sky darkness each year. Add to that the explosion of satellites filling up our sky. SpaceX has approval to launch up to 19,500 Starlink satellites with a possible 22,500 more. Besides interfering with astronomical research, Scientists have already noticed that sky glow interrupts the life cycle of plants and animals. It also has affected the day/night circadian rhythm of humans.

The Eta Aquariid meteor shower peaks on May 6 but a full moon the night before will strongly diminish the ability to see the dimmer meteors. It would be best to observe the shower a few days before and after the peak date. The shower is active between April 19 and May 28 A respectable hourly average rate of 50 meteors can be expected around the peak date. The radiant is in Capricornus which rises in the east about 1:30 am at the start of May. Best viewing would be early morning towards the east before sunrise. The Eta Aquariids, as well as the Orionids in the fall, are the result of the Earth plowing into the debris left behind by Halley’s Comet.

Venus is prominent in the sky all month and it actually brightens to a magnitude of -4.4 by month’s end (remember: -5 is very bright and +5 is dim). Early in May, it is between the horns of the constellation Taurus the Bull in the west. By month’s end it has moved to a position just south of the star Pollux in Gemini.

Mars is a few degrees south of Pollux at the start of May. By mid month, it has moved into the constellation Cancer and slowly approaches the readily naked eye observable Beehive Cluster (Messier 44). On May 24, Mars is west of M44 with a crescent Moon 3 degrees north of the cluster. Mars is 1 degree away from M44 at the end of the month. It will cross the cluster as we enter June.

The best time to observe Saturn is early morning about 3:30 am at the start of May and about 1 am at the end. It stays most of the month in the middle of Aquarius and it is higher as the month progresses. Its rings are tilted about 8 degrees. Look for its biggest moon Titan. It will be due north on the 4th and 20th and due south on the 12th and 28th. See if you can make out its other moons.

Jupiter is observable again by the end of the month when it can be found about 10 degrees above the horizon in the east about an hour before sunrise. On the 17th, the Moon will occult Jupiter. It occurs about 8 am. You won’t be able to observe this event without special equipment. It’s much too dangerous to look in the direction of the rising Sun!

It’s time to review how to estimate distance in degrees when observing: Tip of pinky finger at arm’s length: 1 degree. Middle 3 fingers: 5 degrees. Clenched fist: 10 degrees. That’s all there is to it! If Jupiter is 10 degrees above the horizon, clench your fist, extend your arm fully and measure.

I was very excited about the Webb Space Telescope. It is contributing tremendous new science to our investigation of the universe. NASA has a new space telescope on the drawing boards: the Habitable Worlds Telescope. It’s a 6 meter observatory capable of detecting life signs on exoplanets similar to Earth. It will be placed, like the Webb, 1.5 kilometers from Earth at the L2 Lagrange point. The plan is to service and upgrade the platform with robotic craft. Wow!

Highlights:

May 5: Full Moon. Spring is in the air! This is the Full Flower Moon or the Full Budding Moon. Flowers and plants are popping out, up and spreading their heady scent and colour. May 6: Aquariid Meteor shower peaks. May 10: Mars is 5 degrees south of Pollux in Gemini. May 11: The Moon is at perigee – 367,118 Km. May12: Last quarter Moon. May 14: Moon is 2 degrees south of Neptune at 9 pm. Give it a try! May 19: New Moon. May 24: Moon passes 2 degrees north of Mars and west of the Beehive Cluster at 2 pm. May 25: Moon is at apogee – 402160 Km. May 27: First quarter Moon.

That’s it for now. Keep looking up (unless you’re driving). I welcome comments, questions or reports of any unusual sights in the sky. Reach me at the paper or at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..