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May Sky
3-4 May	Waxing gibbous Moon near Spica and Saturn this evening
5-May	Full Moon (Flower or Corn Planting Moon) at 11:35pm, EDT
12-May	Last Quarter Moon at 5:47pm, EDT
13-May	Jupiter in conjunction with the sun
20-May	New Moon at 7:47pm, EDT (Annular Solar Eclipse, visible from E. Asia, N. Pacific Ocean, and W. United States)
22-May	Venus near a thin crescent Moon after sunset
27-May	Mercury at superior conjunction
28-May	First Quarter Moon at 4:16pm, EDT
28-May	Mars near a waxing gibbous Moon on this evening
31-May	Saturn, Spica, and a waxing gibbous Moon form an eye-catching row tonight
May Planets
Mercury	Not visible this month (Superior conjunction on the 27th)
Venus	High in the NW sky after sunset on the 1st; rapidly descends toward the setting sun and is lost in the solar glare by month?s end
Mars	In Leo, Mars is dimming as its distance from Earth increases. At sunset on the 1st, Mars appears high above the S horizon; by month?s end, the Red Planet is halfway up in the SW.
Jupiter	Not visible this month (Conjunction with the sun on the 13th)
Saturn	In Virgo, near the 1st magnitude star Spica. Low in the SE after sunset on the 1st; lies above the S horizon at month?s end.
June Sky
4-Jun	Full Moon (Full Strawberry Moon) at 7:12am, EDT
5-Jun	Venus at Inferior Conjunction (TRANSIT!)
11-Jun	Last Quarter Moon at 6:41am, EDT
17-Jun	A thin crescent Moon is nestled between Jupiter and Venus this morning. Look very low in the ENE 45 minutes before sunrise.
19-Jun	New Moon at 11:02am, EDT
21-Jun	Mercury, Pollux, and Castor are aligned to the upper right of a two-day-old Moon. Look very low in the WNW an hour after sunset.
23-Jun	Summer Solstice at 7:09pm, EDT
25-26 Jun	Mars is near the Moon these evenings.
26-Jun	First Quarter Moon at 11:30pm, EDT
27-28 Jun	A waxing gibbous moon passes Saturn and Spica on these evenings.
30-Jun	Mercury at Greatest Eastern Elongation Visible very low in WNW sky after sunset.
June Planets
Mercury	Past superior conjunction late last month, Mercury reappears in the evening sky and is visible very low in the WNW. The best opportunity to glimpse this elusive planet is during the latter half of June, prior to greatest eastern elongation on the 30th.
Venus	Venus presents us with the astronomical event of the year. During superior conjunction on the 5th, Venus transits the sun for the first time since 2004 and the last time until 2117. Details appear in the June issues of Sky and Telescope (pp 50 and 51) and Astronomy (pp 50-52). Check also the website transitofvenus.org. After the transit, Venus moves into the evening sky and forms an eye-catching pair with Jupiter during the latter part of June.
Mars	Near the Leo/Virgo border this month, Mars appears in the SW sky after sunset and sets around midnight.
Jupiter	After a mid-May conjunction, Jupiter begins to emerge from the glare of the rising sun. Look low in the ENE an hour before sunrise, especially late in the month, when Jupiter pairs with Venus.
Saturn	Visible in the southern sky after sunset near the first magnitude star Spica.
Year At a Glance
May 23-28	Riverside Telescope Makers Conference, Big Bear City, CA (www.rtmcastronomyexpo.org)
Jun 5-6	VENUS TRANSIT!!! (Last one until 2117)
Jul 20-21	30th Astronomer’s Conjunction, Northfield MA (philharrington.net/astroconjunction)
Aug 10-12	Maine State Star Party, Edmunds, ME (downeastaa.com)
Aug 12-13	Perseid Meteor Shower
Aug 10-19	Rockland Summer Star Party, Savoy, MA (tentative location for 2012) (rocklandastronomy.com)
Aug 16-19	Stellafane Convention, Springfield VT (stellafane.org)
Aug 31- Sep 3	Arunah Hill Days, Cummington, MA (arunah.org/events/ahd.htm)
Sep 13-17	Acadia Night Sky Festival, Bar Harbor, ME (acadianightskyfestival.com)
Sep 14-16	ASSNE’s Starfest, Kennebunk, ME (assne.org)
Sep 23-25	Connecticut Star Party, Ashford, CT (asnh.org)
Sep-12	International Observe the Moon Night (observethemoonnight.org)
Oct 5-6	AstroAssembly, Seagrave Observatory, North Scituate, Rhode Island (theskyscrapers.org/astroassembly)
Oct 5-19	Great World Wide Star Count (tentative date)
Oct 4-10	World Space Week
Oct-12	Astronomy Day (autumn) (astroleague.org/al/astroday/astroday.html)
Oct 21-22	Orionid Meteor Shower
Nov-12	Total Solar Eclipse, visible from n. Australia and s. Pacific Ocean
Nov 17-18	Leonid Meteor Shower
Dec-12	Jupiter at opposition
Dec 13-14	Geminid Meteor Shower