Free Monthly Sky Map

Mercury starts this month in the constellation of Pisces moving into Aries on the 13th. On the 21st Mercury then crosses over into the constellation of Taurus. At the start of the month Mercury is quite bright at magnitude 0.0 and does increase in brightness to -1.64 at the end of the month. Even though Mercury is brightening through the month it is rapidly closing in on the Sun reaching superior conjunction on the 27th. Because of this Mercury will only be visible for the first part of the month.

Venus spends this month in the constellation of Taurus. On the 15th Venus will appear to be stationary against the background stars after which it will begin its retrograde motion. Venus is still visible in the early evening sky but is quickly closing in on the Sun and its conjunction at the start of June. Venus continues to shine bright having a magnitude of -4.4 at the start of the month fading to -3.8 by the end of the month.

Mars remains in the constellation of Leo throughout this month. You can locate it passing between the two rear legs of the lion having a distinctly red hue to its appearance. Mars is getting further away from the Earth now after its opposition and is rapidly fading in brightness as well as size. Over the month Mars fades from a magnitude of -0.0 to a magnitude +0.5 by the end of the month.

Jupiter starts this month in the constellation of Aries but passes into Taurus on the 14th. On the 13th, Jupiter is at conjunction with the Sun and so is not visible at all during May.

Saturn continues its retrograde motion in the constellation of Virgo throughout this month. After its opposition last month Saturn is now fading slowly. Starting the month at magnitude +0.3 it fades down to magnitude +0.5 by the end of the month. Saturn is not far from the bright star Spica in Leo. A rough guide to finding Saturn is to look around half way between the bright star Arcturus and the horizon. Arcturus can be found by following the arc of the handle in the plough round and down. By mid month Saturn is setting at 03:35 hours.

Uranus starts this month in the constellation of Aquarius and crosses into the top right hand corner of Cetus on the 12th. Like Jupiter Uranus is too close to the Sun to be observed this month.

Neptune continues this month towards the west on the far right of the constellation of Aquarius near to the border with Capricorn. Again Neptune cannot be observed this month.

Pluto remains this month in the upper middle part of the constellation of Sagittarius close to the boundary with the constellation of Serpens and continues on its retrograde motion. At the start of the month Pluto is rising at 23:54 and by the end of the month this has moved to 21:50. Pluto needs the use of a good star chart to be found and is around 1^o to the left of the open cluster M25. At a very low magnitude of +14.03 you will a reasonably sized telescope to have ny chance of observing Pluto.

1st Sunrise – 04:33 hrs Sunset – 19:38 hrs

15th Sunrise – 04:08 hrs Sunset – 20:03 hrs

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Nature of the Planets
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Nature of the Stars
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