The Sky This Week - Thursday May10 to Thursday May 17

The New Moon is Tuesday, May 15.  Venus is high in the twilight and passes between the horns of Taurus the bull on the 14th  and is visited by the crescent Moon on the 17th. Jupiter is just past opposition, but is still big and bright in telescopes. Venus is setting as Jupiter is rising. Mars and Saturn are visible in the late evening skies. Saturn is closest to the globular cluster M2 on the 15th. Mercury is prominent in the morning skies and is visited by the crescent Moon on the 14th.

The New Moon is Tuesday, May 15.

Evening twilight sky on Thursday May 17 looking west as seen from Adelaide at 18:17 ACST (60 minutes after sunset). Venus is to the right of the the bthin crescent Moon.

 Similar views will be seen throughout Australia at the equivalent local time (45 minutes after sunset, click to embiggen).

Venus is rising still higher in the twilight. Venus is visible to the unaided eye from 10 minutes after sunset, easy to see 30 minutes after sunset and can potentially be viewed later than an hour after sunset.

Evening sky on Saturday May 12 looking east  as seen from Adelaide at 23:00 ACST. Jupiter is  high above the horizon, Saturn and Mars are clearly visible and the waning Moon is between Mars and Saturn.

The inset to the left  is a simulated telescopic view of Jupiter and its moons at 2:00 ACST, with Io about to enter eclipse by Jupiter. The inset to the right is a simulated telescopic view of Saturn and the globular cluster M22.

Similar views will be seen throughout Australia at the equivalent local time (click to embiggen).

Morning sky on Monday May 14 looking east as seen from Adelaide at 6:04 ACST (60 minutes before sunrise). Mercury is the brightest object closest to the eastern horizon and the thin crescnt Mon is close  by. The inset shows a simulated telescopic view of Mercury.

 Similar views will be seen throughout Australia at the equivalent local time (60 minutes before sunrise).

 Venus  is now sufficiently high in the evening twilight to be readily visible above the horizon if there are not too many trees or buildings in the way. It is  now one and a half hand-spans above the horizon 30 minutes after sunset. It is bright enough to be visible 10 minutes after sunset and easy to see 30 minutes after sunset. Venus can potentially be viewed after an hour after sunset if you have a flat, unobstructed horizon.

Venus passes between the horns of Taurus the bull on the 14th  and is visited by the crescent Moon on the 17th.

Mercury is prominent the morning sky, and now is in an excellent position for observation and is the brightest object above the eastern horizon. Mercury is now high enough for telescope observation. In even a small telescope the “half moon” shape of Mercury will be visible. On the 14th Mercury is close to the thin crescent Moon.

Jupiter  is rising in the early evening as Venus is setting. It was at Opposition on the 9th, it is visible all night long  and is  a good telescopic object in the late evening. There are some good Jovian Moon events this week.

 Mars is in Sagittarius the archer and is now rising in the late evening. Mars is moving away from Saturn although the pair are still obvious together.   Mars is brightening ahead of opposition later this year.

Saturn is climbing higher the evening sky, although telescopically it is still best in the morning sky. It is within binocular range of several attractive clusters and nebula. It is close to the bright globular cluster M22 and the pair are visible in binoculars and wide field telescope eyepieces. Saturn is closest to the globular cluster M2 on the 15th.

Printable PDF maps of the Eastern sky at 10 pm AEST, Western sky at 10 pm AEST. For further details and more information on what’s up in the sky, see Southern Skywatch.
Cloud cover predictions can be found at SkippySky.

Here is the near-real time satellite view of the clouds (day and night) http://satview.bom.gov.au/