SKYLIGHTS

Skylights featured on Astronomy Picture of the Day

Skylights featured nine times on Earth Science Picture of the Day: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 -- Full List Restored!

Astronomy news for the two weeks starting Friday, May 5, 2017.

• The Moon
  • The fortnight belongs to the Moon; it's the "bright run" in astrospeak.
  • We begin with the Moon in its late waxing gibbous phase, full Moon taking place on Wednesday, May 10.
  • The Moon passes 2 degrees north of Jupiter, Sunday, May 7; Spica is to the south.
  • After the waning gibbous phase , The Moon hits third quarter on Wednesday, May 18, shortly before Moonrise in North America.
  • The Moon passes 3 degrees north of Saturn, Saturday, May 13.
  • The Moon goes through apogee, farthest from Earth, on Friday, May 12, shortly after the full Moon.
• Planets and the Solar System
  • Mercury is at greatest elongation west of the Sun, 26 degrees, on Wednesday, May 17. It presents a poor sight as the planet rises in bright twilight.
  • Jupiter, dominating the nighttime sky, crosses the meridian around 11 PM, just as Saturn rises.
  • Venus, much brighter than Jupiter, rises at dawn, around 4 AM, about as Saturn transits the meridian.
• The Stars
  • In the early evening, Perseus, northeast of Andromeda and northwest of Auriga, descends the northwestern sky. The dense central part of Perseus is a cluster buried in a much larger unbound association of hot stars. Auriga features Capella, the most northerly first magnitude star, just slightly farther north than Deneb in Cygnus, which is at the northeast apex of the Summer Triangle. The most southerly star is Acrux in the Southern Cross, which is perpetually below the horizon for almost all the US. In mid evening Leo and its bright star Regulus crosses the meridian. Southwest of Regulus is the lonely star Alphard, the luminary of Hydra, the Water Serpent, the longest constellation of the sky.

Primary source: The Astronomical Almanac.