What's Up In The Sky Now?

Jupiter and one of its moons casting a shadow on Jupiter. Photo by DMAS member Scott Dearinger, 2021

May, 2025

Our Solar System - notes by DMAS member, JoAnn Cogil

As most fans know, the fourth day in May became Star Wars Day because of the turn of phrase, "May the force be with you," used by Jedi masters in the movies. The classic slogan was originally flip-flopped in 1978 to greet others on the Fourth of July, according to Lucasfilm.

The next year, May 4 became the fandom's unofficial holiday after Margaret Thatcher won the election to become Britain's first female prime minister. To celebrate her victory, her party took up a half-page advertisement in the May 4, 1979, issue of The London Evening News that read, "May the Fourth Be With You, Maggie. Congratulations!"

May is a notable month for the popular franchise. The original Star Wars premiered on May 25, 1977, and its creator, George Lucas, celebrates his birthday on May 14.

Mercury

MERCURY - will be low in the eastern morning sky, barely rising before the Sun, but will be a tough target to see as it moves across our sky during daytime hours.

Venus

VENUS - once again in our morning sky so bright! Venus teams up with the Moon & Saturn to form a nice ‘arc’ in the ESE sky before dawn on May 22nd. On the 31st, it will be at its greatest western elongation in the eastern sky before sunrise. (Greatest eastern elongation is when a planet sets after the Sun sets).

Earth

EARTH - Happy Mother’s Day on May 11th!

Mars

MARS - is still close to the Beehive Cluster (M44) this month in the early evening. It is so close to the cluster that it may appear to be part of the cluster but will show nicely; however, to enjoy a good view of the cluster you should have dark, clear skies. On the 3rd, the red planet and the Moon are very close together. Look for them about 8:30 PM CDT high in the SW sky. Mars is the closest planet to the Moon this month.

Jupiter

JUPITER - lies in the constellation Taurus the Bull with its best viewing early in the month. It does set early in the evening, about 9-11 PM CDT, then it will be gone from view for a while as it heads for the far side of the Sun. On the 4th, you may have an opportunity to see the shadow of its moon ‘Io’ as it makes a transit across the planet.

Saturn

SATURN - now visible in the dawn skies, rising about 2 hours before sunrise. On the 1st, our ringed planet will be next to Venus in the early morning ESE sky. May 6th is Saturn’s equinox with the Sun shining exactly edge-on to the rings, as the rings move through their 15-year cycle. On the 22nd, Saturn pairs with the Moon & Venus in the early morning sky, just before sunrise and it may be possible to see blue Neptune to the left of Saturn.

Uranus

URANUS - remains out of view due to its conjunction with the Sun on the 17th, as it passes the far side of the Sun.

Neptune

NEPTUNE - by month end it will be near Saturn and may be seen with binoculars

The Moon

04 – 1st quarter
12 – FULL at 11:55 AM CDT and is a "micromoon."
20 – third quarter
27th – NEW at 10:02 PM CDT

May’s Moon is known as the ‘Flower Moon” for the time of year when spring flowers appear in abundance. Also known as the “Corn Planting Moon”.

On May 9th--10th, the Moon and the bright star Spica, in the constellation Virgo, will be side-by-side in the WSW night sky with our best viewing well after midnight. If you are so inclined to stay up late or get up early, take a look at this pairing.

Meteor Showers?

Eta Aquarids MS – is an annual meteor shower

Produced by the leftover dust particles of Comet Halley (1P/Halley)
Runs from April 19 – May 28 and peaks on May 5-6
Best viewing time is 2-5 AM CDT
At peak night, we may see up to 30 meteors per hour in the Northern Hemisphere, although the best viewing will be in the Southern Hemisphere.
Radiates from the constellation Aquarius
Meteors could be fast & bright and are known for their speed as they travel about 40 miles per second or about 150,000 mph when entering Earth’s atmosphere and leave lingering bright trails called “trains”
This is the 3rd strongest meteor shower of the year observable on Earth.
The Eta Aquarids MS is one of two meteor showers attributed to Halley’s Comet. In October each year, the Orionids MS is from the inbound portion of Halley’s Comet’s orbit while the Aquarids MS is from the outbound portion of the comet’s orbit.
Halley’s Comet orbits the sun every 76 years and will not enter our inner solar system again until 2061.

See a calendar of meteor showers this year

Definitions - by Bruce Mumm

Every specialty has a specific jargon to describe unique conditions in the field; Astronomy is no different. This month’s words are about distance. For measuring within our solar system we use astronomical unit. To describe distances outside of the solar system we use different terms like lightyear and parsec.

Astronomical Unit (AU) – the approximate average Sun-Earth distance used for describing distances within the solar system. One AU is 93,000,000 miles or 500 light-seconds or 8 1/3 light-minutes.
Lightyear – contrary to how it sounds, it is actually a measure of distance; that distance being the distance that light travels in one year. Light travels at a constant speed of 186,000 miles per second or 5.9 trillion miles.
Parsec – the distance at which a star would have a parallax of one second (PARallax SECond = parsec). This is also the distance from which the earth’s orbit would appear to be one second wide. This equates to a little greater than 3.26 lightyears.