Stargazing Information
The central event of the month, and one of the skywatching highlights of the year, takes place during the daytime: an annular eclipse of the Sun, which carves a narrow path across the western United States. An annular solar eclipse will dim the skies along a narrow path in the western United States on May 20, with a partial eclipse visible across most of the rest of the country. After dark, some of the signature star patterns of summer begin their climb to prominence, including the Summer Triangle, which rises in late evening, and sinuous Scorpius, the scorpion, which is in full view at midnight by month’s end.
In addition to our May eclipse coverage, we have information on the second half of a twice-in-a-lifetime event: the June 5 transit of Venus across the Sun.
This Week’s Stargazing Tips
May 29, 2012
The planet Venus is about to complete its run as the “evening star.” It is quite low in the west at sunset, and sets by the time the sky gets completely dark. On June 5, Venus will move across the face of the Sun — a rare event known as a transit.
May 30, 2012
The Moon is in its waxing gibbous phase. “Gibbous” means that sunlight illuminates more than half of the lunar hemisphere that faces our way, while “waxing” means the illuminated fraction is growing larger. That fraction will continue to increase until the Moon is full on Monday.
May 31, 2012
As night falls, Spica, the brightest star of Virgo, stands just a couple of degrees above the Moon — the width of a finger held at arm’s length. The planet Saturn, which is a little brighter than Spica, is just a few degrees farther along the same line.
June 1
An astronomical doubleheader is coming up early next week. A partial lunar eclipse will take place on Monday, followed by a transit of Venus across the face of the Sun on Tuesday. Both events are the result of precise astronomical alignments.
June 2
A partial lunar eclipse will take place before sunrise Monday, with Earth’s shadow covering about one-third of the Moon’s diameter. The eclipse will be visible across most of the United States.
June 3
Earth’s long, dark shadow will take a small “bite” out of the full Moon before sunrise tomorrow. The partial lunar eclipse will be visible across most of the United States, with the best view across the western half of the country.