Visible this month: Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn

Chuck Bednar for redOrbit.com – @BednarChuck

Grab your telescopes and look to the heavens, because four of our solar system’s planet will be visible in the night sky this month, according to a video posted to YouTube earlier this week by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California.

The video, narrated by JPL astronomer and senior outreach specialist for the US space agency’s Cassini mission to Saturn Jane Houston Jones, revealed that at different times during the month of May, Mercury, Venus, Jupiter and Saturn will all be visible to stargazers.

Mercury and Venus

Mercury and Venus will become visible in the west-northwest part of the sky approximately one hour after sunset during the early part of the month. To see Mercury, the planet closest to the sun, you should look about 10 degrees above the horizon.

To measure 10 degrees, you can hold your outstretched, clenched fist against the sky. Once you spot Mercury, it should be easy to find Venus, as the bright Morning Star will be located roughly 20 degrees above its more elusive neighbor. Both planets should be visible now.

“As seen from the Northern Hemisphere, the first few weeks of May 2015 present the best time this year to catch Mercury in the evening sky,” said EarthSky, adding that the planet “reaches its greatest evening elongation from the sun on May 7 (or May 6, depending on your time zone).”

As for Venus, the website said that at mid-northern latitudes, it sets approximately three and one-half hours after sunset throughout May, and in the Southern Hemisphere, its visibility is expected to improve as we get later into the month, setting three hours after the sun at its peak.

Jupiter and Saturn

Jupiter, the largest and brightest planet in our solar system (although Venus often looks brighter in the night sky), has been visible for several months, Jones said. Look to the upper left of Venus in the west-northwest sky during the early evening hours to catch a glimpse of it.

From May 20 through May 24, the moon will pass right-to-left between Venus and Jupiter, the NASA video said. Furthermore, using most binoculars and just about any size of telescope, you will be able to make out the planet’s colorful cloud bands and four of its larger moons.

On May 22, Saturn reaches opposition, meaning that the planet and the sun will be on opposite sides of the Earth. As a result, it will be visible throughout the night, rising in the southeast at sunset and setting in the northwest at dawn. This year, Saturn’s rings are open, meaning that they are tilted towards Earth more than 24 degrees and are visible with a decent telescope.

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