May 17 Hercules
The constellation Hercules is in good view by the time it gets
dark, and soars high overhead during the night. Look for the
Keystone
– four stars that form a lopsided square. It’s above the
northeastern horizon as darkness falls.
May 17 Hercules
The constellation Hercules is in good view by the time it gets dark, and soars high overhead during the night. Look for the Keystone – four stars that form a lopsided square. It’s above the northeastern horizon as darkness falls.
May 18 Hercules Cluster
The constellation Hercules soars high overhead during the night. One of its most interesting features is M13, a globular star cluster. It contains hundreds of thousands of stars packed into a tight ball. To the unaided eye, it looks like a faint smudge of light.
May 19 Omega Centauri
The Omega Centauri star cluster peeks into view low in the south in late evening. It looks like a fuzzy patch of light. But it’s really more than a million stars packed into a volume of space only about 150 light-years across. It’s about 17,000 light-years away.
May 20 Moon and Venus
The Moon and the planet Venus stage a beautiful encounter the next few evenings. Tonight, look for Venus, the brilliant “evening star,” to the upper left of the Moon. The Moon sets about two hours after the Sun, with Venus following about 30 minutes later.
May 21 More Moon and Venus
The Moon and the planet Venus continue their dazzling show in the western sky this evening. Venus is the brilliant “evening star” to the lower right of the Moon. They both set in late evening.
May 22 Moon and Planets
The Moon huddles close to a pair of planets this evening – Mars and Saturn. Look for them below the Moon, with golden Saturn on the left, and orange Mars on the right. They stand well up in the west as twilight begins to fade, and set by midnight.
May 23 Moon and Gemini
The brightest stars of Gemini line up with the Moon tonight. As darkness falls, Pollux stands just to the right of the Moon, with Castor a little farther along the same line. The stars represent a pair of mythological twins.
