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MAY 2010–OBSERVING HIGHLIGHTS

Edited by Mile Bush, ACA VP Observing https://www.angelfire.com/ga/astronomyclubaugusta

MOON:

Last quarter - 6th

New moon – 13th

First quarter - 22ndt

Full moon – 27th

 

VENUS : Look to the West after sunset , and you can't miss Venus. The brightest point of light in the sky shines at a magnitude of -3.9 and stands nearly 20 degrees above the horizon 45 minutes after sunset. It remains on view until after 10 PM local daylight time. On May 15th Venus and a nearby crescent moon make a great photogenic moment. This month Venus will look better through binoculars than a telescope.

MARS: The Red Planet now lies quite far from Earth, some 130 million miles, in mid May, and thus appears small. Mars' disk measures 7” across, so you'll need a 12” or larger telescope to see any detail worth appreciated. Although Mars will remain bright for several more months, the disk's diminishing size renders telescopic views disappointing at best.

SATURN: Fortunately Saturn makes up for Mars' diminishing appeal. The ringed planet looks stunning through a telescope and remains visible nearly all night. You can find it high in the South after sunset around 45 degrees. The rings tip just 1.7 degrees to our line of sight in the second half of May, the minimum tilt in 2010. By the end of the year the rings will tilt an impressive 10 degrees.

NEPTUNE : Rises in the East as Saturn sets in the West. The outer planet rises a little after 2 AM local daylight time in mid-May and stands 20 degrees high as twilight begins its glow at magnitude 7.9 bright enough that binoculars will bring it into view.

JUPITER: Jupiter rises an hour after Neptune. You won't need any help identifying Jupiter, its the brightest point of light in the predawn sky. The giant planet shines at magnitude -2.2 and dominates the heavens until twilight overwhelms all the stars. Turbulence in our own atmosphere blurs fine features on any celestial object near the horizon. But it won't mask Jupiter's four large moons: IO, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto. Viewing conditions will improve markedly by late June.

URANUS: Uranus lies in the same binocular field as Jupiter. The two begin May nearly 5 degrees apart but the gap narrows to 1 degree by month's end. Uranus lies North East to Jupiter. Like Jupiter, views of Uranus will grow much better this summer.

MERCURY: Mercury lies just 5 degrees above the Eastern horizon 30 minutes before sunrise. It glows at magnitude 0.4 and appears as a bright point when you scan the twilight sky with binoculars. A telescope shows a disk 8 arc seconds in diameter and just 39 percent lit.

The ETA Aquarid meter shower peaks before dawn on May 6th. A last quarter moon interferes with the view, but observers still should see 10-20 shooting stars per hour.

The 10th magnitude C/2009 K5 ( McNaught) passes near the 2nd magnitude star Polaris in the 2nd half of May making it an easy target.