Asteroid 5 Astraea near Leo
Saturday, May 12: Asteroid 5 Astraea near Leo
Look two-thirds of the way from the southern horizon to the zenith, and you’ll see the familiar shape of Leo the Lion. The constellation forms a perfect backdrop for locating the 11th-magnitude asteroid 5 Astraea. First, find the 4th-magnitude star Iota (ι) Leonis, which lies just below the Lion’s hindquarters. Then, insert a low-power eyepiece and go asteroid hunting.
Astraea lies 0.5° south-southwest of Iota this evening; tomorrow night, the main-belt asteroid appears a similar distance due south of the star. If you are unsure which point of light is Astraea, sketch the field and return to it a night or two later. The object that moved is the asteroid
The posotion of Saturn in Virgo
Tuesday, May 15 : The posotion of Saturn in Virgo
Saturn looks spectacular all this week. It lies among the background stars of Virgo, hanging in the southeastern sky as darkness falls and climbing high in the south by 11 p.m. local daylight time. Saturn shines at magnitude 0.4, noticeably brighter than Virgo’s brightest star, Spica, which lies 5° south-southwest of the planet
Target M106 in Ursa Major
Would you like to hunt down a galaxy? With binoculars in hand, scan about one field of view east-southeast of 2nd-magnitude Phecda (Gamma [γ] Ursae Majoris), the star that forms the southeastern corner of the Big Dipper’s bowl. You should see a triangle of 5th- and 6th-magnitude stars. The spiral galaxy M106 lies 1.7° south of 3 Canum Venaticorum, the triangle’s southern tip. The galaxy will appear as an oval blur of light
The Moon reaches apogee ,The posiotion of Venus in the western sky
Saturday, May 19: The Moon reaches apogee
The Moon reaches apogee, the farthest point in its orbit around Earth, at 12:13 p.m. EDT. It then lies 252,555 miles (406,448 kilometers) from Earth’s center.
The position of Venus in the western sky
Venus is moving lower in the west every evening as twilight fades. It's now left of much fainter Beta Tauri, which has been descending almost in parallel with it
Find the Spring Triangle in the sky
The Spring Triangle shines high in the sky as darkness falls. This triplet of stars is an example of an asterism — a recognizable star pattern that’s not one of the official constellations. The most famous asterism is the Big Dipper, seven bright stars within the constellation Ursa Major the Great Bear. But asterisms also can incorporate stars from different constellations. The Spring Triangle, for example, uses the brightest stars from three of this season’s heavenly figures. The most prominent of the three luminaries is Arcturus, the numero uno starin Boötes the Herdsman. Arcturus ranks number four in star brightness overall and it’s the brightest star north of the celestial equator, the imaginary line that divides the northern part of the sky from the southern half. About one-sixth of the way across the sky to the south-southwest of Arcturus lies Spica, the sky’s 15th-brightest star and number one in Virgo the Maiden. And at the westernmost tip of the Spring Triangle lies Denebola, the second-brightest star in Leo the Lion and the one marking the Lion’s tail
Target the asteroid 18 Melpomene
Friday, June 1 : Target the asteroid 18 Melpomene
Tonight offers a good opportunity to track down the asteroid 18 Melpomene through your telescope. This 10th-magnitude space rock lies less than ½° west of the 4th-magnitude star Alpha (α) Scuti. This region rises shortly after 9 p.m. local daylight time and climbs highest in the south around 3 a.m. Try to find Melpomene either tonight or tomorrow night (when it lies a bit farther from Alpha Scuti); later in the week, a nearly Full Moon will make the task harder
The Moon reaches perigee , The position of Saturn
If you head outside as darkness falls and look halfway from the southern horizon to the zenith, two bright objects will vie for your attention. The upper one is Saturn. It appears slightly brighter, at magnitude 0.5, than its neighbor and has a yellowish cast. Some 5° below the ringed planet resides blue-white Spica, the magnitude 1.0 luminary of the constellation Virgo.
Sunday, June 3 : The Moon reaches perigee
The Moon reaches perigee, the closest point in its orbit around Earth, at 9:16 a.m. EDT. It then lies 222,752 miles (358,484 kilometers) away from us. Because perigee arrives less than 24 hours before Full Moon, residents of coastal areas should expect higher than normal tides for a few days
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The last Venus Transit in our life
June 5 & 6: The last Venus Transit in our life
For the second and final time this century, Venus passes in front of the Sun from our perspective. Residents of North America will see the transit this afternoon, but the calendar will read June 6 for those in the Eastern Hemisphere. Venus appears just 3 percent as large as the Sun and will look like a black dot as it traverses the Sun’s face. Be sure to look through a safe solar filter to protect your eyes — the Sun’s rays can damage your retinas quickly and painlessly