ajamesmccarthy
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Celestial Events in May- do I spy an eclipse?
🕑 Added 2021-05-03 00:13:00 +0000 UTCHello Patrons!
Here's a quick rundown on what we can look forward to this month:
May 6-7th -ETA Aquarids Meteor Shower
This is Earth passing through the tail of Halley's comet, which will produce about 1 meteor a minute on average if you catch it during its peak. You'll want to get to dark skies to properly experience it, and will see the most meteors after midnight (the morning of the 7th) but before the last quarter moon rises.
May 11th- New Moon
Always the best time to go stargazing, this new moon will give you the darkest skies, especially for those of you that live away from city lights. If you stay up late enough, you'll see the milky way core rising overhead as we get closer to summer and mlky way season. For this month's deep sky observing challenge, see if you can spot Rho Ophiuchi. It is a large obect that hangs off the west side of the Milky Way core, so rises much earlier. To the naked skies it appears as a part of the scorpio constellation, with the bright yellow star Antares at the core. Through binoculars, you can spot the m4 star cluster hiding amongst the stars. Through a long exposure with a camera, colorful clouds appear, with dark dust lanes blocking the dense starfield behind it. One of my favorite objects in the sky, once you see it you'll always remember it is a sign summer is approaching.
May 17th- Mercury at greatest elongation
Mercury will be highest in the evening sky this day. Look to the west right after sunset to look for a star low in the sky. Through a telescope, the planet shows clear phases just like our moon.
May 26th- The Super Flower Moon with a bonus eclipse
The moon will be at perigee this day, and as such will be brighter and larger than usual. Supermoons occur in groups, and this is the second of 3 we will have this year, all in a row. This full moon also comes with a total lunar eclipse! Unfortunately it is most visible to those that happen to live in the middle of the pacific, it will be visible to those of us on the west coast of the US and eastern asia/australia. I have plans to travel to shoot this event, so you should see some nice pics of it if you won't be able to catch it!
Have a great May!
Andrew
Comments
I wish!! I’m actually going to catch it during totality low on the horizon, which requires staying in California. My equipment also doesn’t travel well 😩
Raymond Savoie
"I have plans to travel to shoot this event, so you should see some nice pics of it if you won't be able to catch it!" Thank you for your sacrifice! (Have fun in Hawaii! Haha!)
