By Heather Durham | April 30, 2021
Greetings skywatchers!
After a couple of months of minimal activity, this month brings us yet another supermoon, the only total lunar eclipse visible from our vantage point this year, along with two meteor showers! Let’s just hope Mother Nature and her weather cooperates for optimal viewing.
May 3. The Moon and Saturn will rise closely to one another. The Moon will be in its final quarter.
May 4. The Moon and Jupiter will rise closely to one another.
May 5. The Aquariid meteor shower will put on a weather dependent display on tonight. This shower comes from the Constellation Aquarius and the peak display will be at 10:00 pm.
May 8. We will have the Lyrid Meteor shower tonight from the Constellation Lyra. The best displays may be seen either before dawn or just after dusk.
May 12. Mercury will reach half phase on this date.
May 16. The Moon and Mars will rise closely to one another.
May 17. Mercury will reach it’s highest point in the sky and may be observable during twilight.
May 19. The Moon will be at its first quarter.
May 23. Saturn turns from east to west today. This event is usually known as retrograde.
May 26. The Supermoon will be full tonight and along with this, tonight we will have a total lunar eclipse. Partial eclipse will be from 7:45 until 8:52. The total eclipse will occur between 7:12 until 7:26.
May 30. The Moon and Saturn will rise closely to one another.
References:
Ford, D.F. (n.d.). May 2021 Astronomical Calendar. Retrieved from in-the-sky.org/
Newcomb, Alyssa. (2020, April 16). Lyrid Meteor Shower. Retrieved from www.today.com/news/lyrid-meteor-shower-where-when-see-shooting-stars-t178937
Milton Observer 