Night Sky: Moon visits Jupiter and Saturn

Darlene Danko
Posted 5/27/21

On May 17, Mercury was farthest from the Sun making it very easy to see. Now it's moving back to the Sun. Although it's still visible, tomorrow it's going to meet up with bright Venus making it hard to see. So, when you look at Venus, use binoculars to help you see Mercury next to it. They're very close together.

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Night Sky: Moon visits Jupiter and Saturn

Posted

On May 17, Mercury was farthest from the Sun making it very easy to see. Now it's moving back to the Sun. Although it's still visible, tomorrow it's going to meet up with bright Venus making it hard to see. So, when you look at Venus, use binoculars to help you see Mercury next to it. They're very close together.

I hope we got to see the moon yesterday morning with its lunar eclipse. On Monday, May 31, the moon meets up with Jupiter and Saturn in the morning. It'll be a little below and between them.  Jupiter is slightly below the big dim constellation Aquarius. Saturn is close to the constellation Capricornus.

Aquarius is one of the oldest Zodiacal constellations. In the evening, it’s best visibility is in June and July. It's seen as a figure pouring water from a jug. This constellation contains some great deep sky objects including the closest planetary nebula to Earth. In early May, the Eta Aquarid meteor shower radiates from it.

Capricornus the Sea Goat is a fainter constellation. That's because it lies at a greater distance from the Milky Way. It's small and one of the oldest constellations in our sky. There are 12 stars that make up a goat with the tail of a fish. The best time to view it in the evening is August and September. It also contains M 30 which is a star cluster.

So, to see these you'll have to get up by 5 a.m. Look in the south-south-west until you see the moon and planets. Saturn will be to the right of Jupiter and the moon will be slightly below them. Then see if you can see the two constellations.