Astronomer Martin Lunn tells us what can be seen in the May skies:

THIS is the first chart of the year without Orion. The brilliant hunter has vanished below the horizon. The only winter constellations still left are the stars of Auriga and Gemini but they are now very low in the west.

The Plough is still more or less overhead which means that Cassiopeia is at its lowest, but still well above the northern horizon. Arcturus in Bootes and Spica in Virgo are almost due south. They can be found by following the curve of the handle of the Plough around and down.

First you will reach the bright orange star Arcturus in Bootes (The Herdsman) then, when the curve is continued, you will reach the bright white star Spica in Virgo (The Virgin) low down in the sky.

If you have a good southern horizon and can continue that curve from the handle of the Plough past Arcturus and Spica you will reach a fairly conspicuous quadrilateral of stars. This is the constellation of Corvus (the Crow).

Just past the south point is the bright star Regulus in Leo (The Lion) which can be seen at the bottom of a group of stars that look like a backwards looking question mark.

Some of the bright summer stars are beginning to appear in the north east, but we will look at them in July when they will be high in the sky.

What’s up in The Solar System?

The Planets in May

APRIL belonged to Mercury because it was the best chance to this planet in the evening this year. However, surprise surprise, Mercury will be attracting a lot of attention again this month. On May 9, Mercury will be seen as a dark spot slowly moving across the face of the Sun. This is called a transit of Mercury.

It is very important never to stare at the sun, or to use binoculars or telescopes directly to view the sun as this will cause blindness. Many local astronomical societies will be watching this event in a safe way. The transit starts 12.12pm and finishes at 7.42pm. It is to be hoped the sky will be clear for at least some of the time during the transit.

The last time an entire transit of Mercury was visible from Britain was in May 2003, and the next one will be in May 2049.

Jupiter still dominates the night sky. It is the bright white star like object high in the sky in the south. As soon as it gets dark you can see Jupiter just to the left of Regulus in Leo. At the moment Jupiter acts as a good guide to finding Regulus.

Mars and Saturn are at last coming into the night sky and by mid-month they will be visible very low in the south east. They will both be seen better during the summer months albeit still low in the sky. Venus is now too close to the Sun to be seen.

Meteor Showers

The only meteor shower this month is the Eta Aquarids. The shower reaches its peak on May 6 and 7. Sadly, for people living in Britain, these meteors are seen very low in the sky and only for an hour or so before the Sun rises. Only a few can be expected to be seen. If, however, you live in Australia, you would normally expect to see a spectacular shower with about 60 meteors per hour being seen.

Meteor showers are caused when the Earth passes through a trail of dust left behind by a comet. In the case of the eta Aquarids they are the remains of the famous Halley’s Comet.

The Moon in May

On Saturday, May 14, around 11pm, the Moon will be to the lower right of Jupiter.

On Sunday, May 15 around 11pm, the Moon will be to the lower left of Jupiter.

Phases of the Moon for May

New Moon 6th, First Quarter 13th, Full Moon 21st, Last Quarter 29th

This month’s full moon is called the ‘Flower Moon’. This is the month when flowers really begin to bloom and colour is appearing all around us.

The next meeting of the Earby Astronomical Society will be at the town's All Saints’ Church tomorrow from 7.30pm to 9pm. The talk will be entitled Transits in the Sky and will be presented by Martin Lunn.