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May Sky
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3-4 May |
Waxing gibbous Moon near Spica and Saturn this evening |
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5-May |
Full Moon (Flower or Corn Planting Moon) at 11:35pm, EDT |
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12-May |
Last Quarter Moon at 5:47pm, EDT |
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13-May |
Jupiter in conjunction with the sun |
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20-May |
New Moon at 7:47pm, EDT (Annular Solar Eclipse, visible from E. Asia, N. Pacific Ocean, and W. United States) |
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22-May |
Venus near a thin crescent Moon after sunset |
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27-May |
Mercury at superior conjunction |
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28-May |
First Quarter Moon at 4:16pm, EDT |
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28-May |
Mars near a waxing gibbous Moon on this evening |
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31-May |
Saturn, Spica, and a waxing gibbous Moon form an eye-catching row tonight |
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May Planets
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Mercury |
Not visible this month (Superior conjunction on the 27th) |
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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 |
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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. |
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Jupiter |
Not visible this month (Conjunction with the sun on the 13th) |
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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. |
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June Sky
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4-Jun |
Full Moon (Full Strawberry Moon) at 7:12am, EDT |
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5-Jun |
Venus at Inferior Conjunction (TRANSIT!) |
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11-Jun |
Last Quarter Moon at 6:41am, EDT |
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17-Jun |
A thin crescent Moon is nestled between Jupiter and Venus this morning. Look very low in the ENE 45 minutes before sunrise. |
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19-Jun |
New Moon at 11:02am, EDT |
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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. |
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23-Jun |
Summer Solstice at 7:09pm, EDT |
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25-26 Jun |
Mars is near the Moon these evenings. |
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26-Jun |
First Quarter Moon at 11:30pm, EDT |
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27-28 Jun |
A waxing gibbous moon passes Saturn and Spica on these evenings. |
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30-Jun |
Mercury at Greatest Eastern Elongation Visible very low in WNW sky after sunset. |
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June Planets
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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. |
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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. |
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Mars |
Near the Leo/Virgo border this month, Mars appears in the SW sky after sunset and sets around midnight. |
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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. |
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Saturn |
Visible in the southern sky after sunset near the first magnitude star Spica. |
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Year At a Glance
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May 23-28 |
Riverside Telescope Makers Conference, Big Bear City, CA (www.rtmcastronomyexpo.org) |
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Jun 5-6 |
VENUS TRANSIT!!! (Last one until 2117) |
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Jul 20-21 |
30th Astronomer’s Conjunction, Northfield MA (philharrington.net/astroconjunction) |
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Aug 10-12 |
Maine State Star Party, Edmunds, ME (downeastaa.com) |
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Aug 12-13 |
Perseid Meteor Shower |
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Aug 10-19 |
Rockland Summer Star Party, Savoy, MA (tentative location for 2012) (rocklandastronomy.com) |
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Aug 16-19 |
Stellafane Convention, Springfield VT (stellafane.org) |
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Aug 31- Sep 3 |
Arunah Hill Days, Cummington, MA (arunah.org/events/ahd.htm) |
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Sep 13-17 |
Acadia Night Sky Festival, Bar Harbor, ME (acadianightskyfestival.com) |
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Sep 14-16 |
ASSNE’s Starfest, Kennebunk, ME (assne.org) |
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Sep 23-25 |
Connecticut Star Party, Ashford, CT (asnh.org) |
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Sep-12 |
International Observe the Moon Night (observethemoonnight.org) |
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Oct 5-6 |
AstroAssembly, Seagrave Observatory, North Scituate, Rhode Island (theskyscrapers.org/astroassembly) |
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Oct 5-19 |
Great World Wide Star Count (tentative date) |
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Oct 4-10 |
World Space Week |
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Oct-12 |
Astronomy Day (autumn) (astroleague.org/al/astroday/astroday.html) |
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Oct 21-22 |
Orionid Meteor Shower |
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Nov-12 |
Total Solar Eclipse, visible from n. Australia and s. Pacific Ocean |
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Nov 17-18 |
Leonid Meteor Shower |
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Dec-12 |
Jupiter at opposition |
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Dec 13-14 |
Geminid Meteor Shower |