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Edinburgh Reporter

The night sky over Edinburgh in May

May graces us with a new comet, a New Supermoon, a Full Micromoon and the Eta Aquarids meteor shower seeded by Halley's comet. After 5 May, the sky never darkens beyond nautical twilight all month long. The Sun leaves Aries (The Ram) on 13 May at 11:52 pm and enters Taurus (The Bull) and recedes from Earth by 966,174 km over the month. Daylight lengthens from 15:24 (15.395 hours) on 1 May to 17:10 (17.165 hours) on 31 May so we lose 1 hour and 46 minutes of night time by the end of May. After 5 May, we never attain astronomical twilight or darker as the Sun is always above the -18 degrees boundary (so never dips below it). The first quarter Moon shows up on 4 May at 2:52 pm in Cancer (The Crab). Lunar apogee (furthest from Earth) occurs on 11 May at 1:34 am and takes the Moon to 406,256 km away from Earth—around 21,856 km further than average—subtending an angle of 29.4 arc-minutes. This is followed by the full Flower Moon which makes an appearance on 12 May at 5:56 pm in Libra (The Scales). It is also a 'Full Micromoon'. The Moon enters last quarter on 20 May at 12:59 pm in Aquarius (The Water Bearer). Lunar perigee (closest to Earth) occurs on 26 May at 2:28 am and finds the Moon some 359,013 km away from Earth—around 25,387 km closer than average—subtending an angle of 33.3 arc-minutes. The new Moon appears on 27 May at 4:02 am in Taurus (The Bull) beginning a new synodic month which will last 29 days, 7 hours and 29 minutes. The new Moon is also a 'New Supermoon'. Pollux in Gemini (The Twins) will be 2.1 degrees north of the waxing crescent Moon in the early hours of 3 May. Antares in Scorpio (The Scorpion) will be 0.3 degrees north of the waning gibbous Moon before sunrise on 14 May. For the inferior planets: Mercury begins the month in Pisces (The Fishes) and ends in Taurus (The Bull) and recedes by 48,648,853 km. Contrarily, the 'Swift Planet' increases in brightness from 0.15 to -2.17 magnitudes over the month. Mercury is lost behind the Sun on 29 May when it is furthest from Earth and reaches superior conjunction the following day. He is closest to the Sun on the last day of the month. Venus remains in Pisces (The Fishes) all month but recedes by 36,100,539 km. Venus decreases in brightness from -4.72 to -4.39 magnitudes over the month but is still with us as the glorious 'Morning Star Planet'. For the superior planets: Mars begins the month in Cancer (The Crab) and ends in Leo (The Lion) but recedes by 40,892,375 km. The 'Red Planet' decreases in brightness from 0.94 to 1.28 magnitudes over the month. Planet spotters will have little difficulty in seeing Mars but, if you need a hint, on 3 May the Roman god of war will be 2.1 degrees south of the waxing crescent Moon in Cancer (The Crab). Jupiter remains in Taurus (The Bull) all month and recedes by 36,842,985 km. The 'Gas Giant' fades in brightness from -1.98 to -1.91 magnitudes over May. Saturn remains in Pisces (The Fishes) all month but comes closer by 63,816,018 km and, so, increases in brightness from 1.17 to 1.08 magnitudes. Uranus remains in Taurus (The Bull) all month and recedes by 2,005,930 km. The 'Ice Giant' reaches Solar conjunction on 17 May and is lost to us. Uranus is furthest from the Earth, all year, on 18 May. Neptune remains in Pisces (The Fishes) all month but comes closer by 62,526,245 km. There are 2 meteor showers in the May sky for Edinburgh and Lothian. The strong Eta Aquarids (031 ETA), radiant from Aquarius (The Water Bearer), began last month and are active until 28 May. They peak on 6 May with up to 50 meteors per hour. The radiant rises around 3 am on 6 May so the shower, with a ZHR=50, will be visible for 90 minutes—the waxing gibbous Moon illuminated to 71% notwithstanding—before sunrise spoils the show. These are one of only 2 meteor showers seeded by the world's most famous comet: 1P/Halley. The very weak Eta Lyrids (145 ELY), radiant from Lyra (The Lyre), are active between 3–14 May and peak on 10 May with barely 3 meteors per hour. This shower is associated with comet C/1983 H1 IRAS-Araki-Alcock. They are very hard to see and the almost full Moon won't help. They will be radiant from an area between Vega and Deneb: two of the bright stars in the 'Summer Triangle'. A new comet was discovered, serendipitously, last month by the NASA's Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) satellite. Since the instrument used in the discovery was SWAN, it was dubbed SWAN25F but it's correct designation is now C/2025 F2 (SWAN). SWAN—or to give it it's full name the Solar Wind Anisotropies instrument—maps hydrogen, specifically Lyman-alpha radiation, in the solar wind and the sudden brightening may be attributed to an outburst at these wavelengths. It may be visible to the naked eye, but certainly visible with a telescope or binoculars, after sunset during the first week of the month near the Pleiades (M45) in Taurus (The Bull) but will fade quickly. The Blaze Star, the recurrent nova T CrB in Corona Borealis (The Northern Crown), should continue to be monitored for it's much-anticipated brightening as the constellation is highly visible during evening and night hours all month. At the time of our sky map, some constellations visible are Ursa Major (The Greater Bear) at zenith, Cepheus (The King) in the north, Hercules (Hercules) in the east, Gemini (The Twins) in the west, and Corvus (The Crow) in the south. The ecliptic hosts Libra (The Scales), Virgo (The Maiden), Leo (The Lion), Cancer (the Crab), Gemini (The Twins) and Taurus (The Bull). If you wish to have a late night, around midnight mid-month, try seeking out some prominent Messier objects visible on our sky map. These will need a telescope or binoculars but M82 (Cigar Galaxy), M101 (Pinwheel Galaxy) and M51 (Whirlpool Galaxy) will all be close to zenith and M87 (Virgo A), in the south, will be at a reasonable airmass. M44 (Beehive Cluster also known as Praesepe) and M67 (Golden Eye Cluster) will be in the west, near Mars. We also see 3 bright star triangles in the May sky. The 'Spring Triangle' of Arcturus in Bootes (The Herdsman), Denebola in Leo (The Lion) and Spica in Virgo (The Maiden) is south-east. The 'Winter Triangle'—Procyon in Canis Minor (The Lesser Dog), Sirius in Canis Major (The Greater Dog) and Betelgeuse in Orion (The Hunter)—sets early in the west and after midnight the 'Summer Triangle'—Deneb in Cygnus (The Swan), Vega in Lyra (The Lyre) and Altair in Aquila (The Eagle)—rises in the east. Circumpolar constellations—always above the horizon at the latitude of Edinburgh and Lothian—include Draco (The Dragon), Perseus (The Hero), Cassiopeia (The Seated Queen) and Camelopardalis (The Giraffe). Like this: Like Related