Tonight In The Sky May 2012

Mercury will be tough to observe this month. It will be very low in the morning twilight glare early in the month. The southern hemisphere will get a better view. Mercury will sink into the Sun’s glare by midmonth. It will be in conjunction with the Sun on the 27th. Mercury appears white in color.

Venus will be high in the southwestern sky just after sunset early in the month. It will be blazing at magnitude -4.7 early in the month and hard to miss. After being higher than usual in the sky for a few months it will sink rapidly. As this happens its disk will grow larger but its phase will go smaller. By the end of the month it will be hard to see as it will be getting close to the Sun. It will go directly across the face of the Sun in a very rare transit June 5th/6th. Venus shines white in color.

Mars will still be a good target this month. It will still be good early in the month. It will be dimming and shrinking fast as the month goes on. At midmonth it will be at magnitude 0.2 and will appear 8.9” in diameter. This is good for Mars but not as good as last month. It will be in the southwest sky when it gets dark. Since it will be shrinking and dimming as the month goes on, it would be better to observe it earlier in the month. Mars has many details on its surface to look for. One detail to look for is its northern polar cap which should be visible (if the cap is there and not melted off yet). By the end of the month Mars will have shrunk enough that a larger telescope will be needed to see details of the surface. Mars will be in Leo but it should not be hard to find. Mars’ brightness and red-orange color will set it apart from any stars in the area.

Jupiter will be all but impossible this month. It will be too close to the Sun. It will be in conjunction with the Sun on the 13th.

Saturn reached opposition last month. This means it will still be almost at its biggest and brightest. It will be a great time to target it with your telescope. It will shine at magnitude 0.4 at midmonth
It will be in Virgo near Spica but this month it will be easy to find. Just look to the southeast when it gets dark. Saturn will be the bright yellow “star”. It will come up at sunset but the best time to observe it would be when it is at its highest in the sky in the south at around 11PM.

Saturn is a great target even with a small telescope. Saturn’s disk will appear somewhat flattened and have some banding. The flattening and banding are more subtle than Jupiter’s. Saturn’s famous rings will be tilted open close to 15º. This is as wide as they have been for years. Saturn also has moons that can be seen through a telescope. They are not always as obvious as Jupiter’s moons. Saturn appears yellowish in color.

Uranus will be only a marginal target if visible at all. Toward the end of the month it will be very low on the eastern horizon just before sunrise. It will rise around 3AM but not get very high before morning twilight takes over. Normally you could look for the aquamarine color of Uranus.

Neptune will be a visible low in the southeast before dawn. It will be higher in the sky than Uranus. Neptune will be in Aquarius. Look for it just before it starts to get light. Neptune will be shinning at magnitude 7.9 and shines blue in color.

Pluto should be visible this month. Always a difficult target, it will be sitting in the sky in the Milky Way above Sagittarius before dawn. It will be sitting high in the sky to the south after midnight but the best time to look for it is when it is highest in the south not long before it starts to get light. You will need darks skies and at least a 10” telescope. Likely you will have to image the target area for two nights in a row and see which of the “stars” move to be sure you have seen it.