Eta Peak Aquarids and other star-gazing events in May

This month, look for the ancient fragments of Halley's comet raining on Earth, as well as a series of eye-catching planetary matches and an opportunity to spy on a superb swarm of stars. You'll even be able to hunt an asteroid the size of Texas while it's navigating the night sky.

Remove your binoculars and mark your May calendar.

Throughout the month, Venus will be a bright vision in the morning sky, appearing as the most important celestial object until sunrise. But on May 2, he will form a particularly spectacular duo with the ultra-thin crescent moon. The cosmic pair will be separated by only two degrees, which will not be wider than your thumb held at arm's length, and will be an excellent opportunity to take pictures.

Mercury, the deepest planet, is small, dark and close to the sun, which means it can be very hard to find in the night sky. But the planet is visible even to the naked eye if you know when and where to look.

On May 3, Mercury will be curled up with the moon in the twilight sky about 30 minutes before sunrise. And throughout the first week of May, you can find it easily by using binoculars to sweep the very eastern sky, about eight degrees from Venus's star-bottom left.

On the 6th, before dawn, wait until the meteor shower Eta Aquarid reaches its peak, offering up to 20 to 30 shooting stars at the time to the viewers under clear skies in the afternoon. southern hemisphere. Observers of the northern sky will see a more modest time of 10 to 20 hours.

Even with fewer meteors in play, this annual shower is worth seeing because it offers a rare glimpse of pieces from a world-famous comet. Meteor showers occur as the Earth passes through debris left by passing comets, and Eta Aquarids form from the dust of Halley's comet, a periodic space rock that is remarkably visible from the Earth about all 75 years old.

The meteors seem to radiate from their constellation of the same name, Aquarius, which will be very close to the southeast horizon. This year, the shower should give a fantastic show, as it will culminate under a dark and moonless sky.

Suspended in the western sky after dark, Mars will be nestled in the bull's winter constellation, the bull. On the 7th, look for a thin crescent moon to join the red planet. Binoculars standing on the moon will unveil its position in the V – shaped Hyades star cluster, which forms the face of the mythical cattle.

As evening dusk deepens, look for the crescent moon crescent in the western low sky. Earth's companion will wander through the constellation of cancer, the crab, and visit the deep-sky jewel known as the Beehive Star Group.

Naked eyes under a dark sky, you can see this group of stars as a cloud, even if it is about 577 light-years away. If you can, be sure to also check with binoculars or a small telescope, as the cloudy blur will explode into dozens of distinct stars with the slightest magnification.

The largest planet in our solar system will shine brightly in the low sky of the south-east of the country, at dawn on the evening of the 19th. And at dawn on the 20th, Jupiter will dominate the southwestern sky, associated with the waning gibbous moon. The eye-catching view will be a great opportunity for photo dogs.

If you also scan the sky around Jupiter at night when the moon is away, you will find that the entire region is crammed with faint star clouds – the background shines from the dense plan of our galaxy of the Milky Way. .

Do you have binoculars or a telescope in your garden? Try to hunt the dwarf planet Ceres, the largest rock of the main asteroid belt. This faint star-shaped object will sail through the constellations of Ophiuchus and Scorpius, which will rise above the eastern horizon around 10 pm. your local time will be the highest in your local sky around 3 am The best way to know for sure if you've hung this space rocker the size of Texas is to record your night views at night to trace its motion in front of a static or otherwise static field.

Andrew Fazekas, the night sky guy, is the author of Star Trek: the official guide to our universe and the second edition of the Backyard Guide to the Night Sky. Follow on Twitter and Facebook.