WHAT'S UP?

by Ronald A. Leeseberg, the Star Geezer

May 2008 - Vol. 12 No. 05

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Features: Calendar | Lunar Almanac | Monthly Topic

This Month's Night Sky - NOTE: The next paragraph describes the sky as it appears at 10 pm EST (11 pm EDT) near mid- month. The sky also looks this way at 11 pm EST (midnight EDT) during the beginning of the month and at 9 pm EST (10 pm EDT) by month's end.

Orangish Arcturus (Bootes) burns brightly high overhead while Spica (Virgo) glows in the S. Castor and Pollux (Gemini's "twins") are sinking in the W. as is Regulus (Leo). The "Big Dipper" still stands high in the N while the stars of the "Summer Triangle" led by brilliant Vega (Lyra) are rising in the E. as reddish Antares (Scorpius) climbs into view from the SE.

MERCURY comes back into view this month. Begin observing low in the W. at twilight. By midmonth it will be some 20 degrees above the WNW horizon as the night sky darkens. It will be gone again by the month's end. If you have a small telescope, you will be able to observe its phases which are similar to our Moon's. VENUS is a "no show" this month since it is too close to the Sun to observe. Look for it again in August as the "Evening Star". MARS will only be a dot in the night sky and very difficult to observe. JUPITER finally come back into view this month. It rises at about 1 am very low in the SE at the beginning of the month but progressively earlier as the month progresses. SATURN is the queen of the night sky. Look in the ESE to find it. It is a beautiful sight in a telescope.

Calendar of Events

NOTE: For those observers not in the ET zone, convert the calendar times to your zone's time by subtracting one hour for CT, two for MT and three for PT. Don't forget to adjust for Daylight Savings Time when necessary by subtracting one hour from your planisphere's time.; Dawn and dusk times must also be corrected. See your local newspaper, TV news, or cable TV's Weather Channel for sunrise and sunset times. Unfortunately some of these events may occur during daylight hours in your area.

DATE	EVENT
04-05	Look for a conjunction (5 degrees) of the Moon and Venus at 9 pm.
06	Look W at dusk to see the crescent Moon occult some of the Pleiades' (M45) stars. The Lyonid Meteor Shower peaks. Unfortunately, this year's waning gibbous Moon, just two days past the full Moon, may be too bright to see many of these meteors.
10	Look for a close conjunction (less that 2 degrees) of the Moon and Mars at 2 am.
12	The Lyrid Meteor Shower peaks. Unfortunately, this year's waning gibbous Moon, just two days past the full Moon, may be too bright to see many of these meteors.
14	Look S to see a conjunction (3 degrees) of the Moon and Jupiter at 1 am.
22-23	Look W after sunset to watch Mars "pass through" M44 (beehive cluster).
24	Look S to see a conjunction (3 degrees) of the Moon and Jupiter at dawn.

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Lunar Almanac for May 2008

Phases of the Moon	Phase and Date(s)	Best viewed before local midnight
	New 05	Deep Space Objects
	1st. Qtr 11	Planets & Moon
	Full 19	Moon
	Last Qtr 27	Deep Space & Planets

Topic of the month: Binocular Object: Whirlpool Galaxy (M 51)

Topic of the month: Binocular object: M-51 (Whirlpool Galaxy) * The area around the "big dipper's" handle is home to many interesting galaxies, from our perspective. This month we will find M51, the famous "Whirlpool" Although it is actually located just "below" the constellation Ursa Major in constellation Canes Venatici, we will find it from the last two stars in the dipper's handle. M51 is associated with another spiral galaxy (NGC 5195) which will probably not be visible in typical binoculars. Remember that galaxies tend to be the most difficult binocular targets. They usually appear as little smudges of light! M51 is a bit different. Although small, it is quite bright and should appear as a tiny disk in a good pair of 7X50 binoculars under dark sky conditions. It is about 35 million light years distant and contains some 200 billion stars! --See you next month! Ron, the star geezer
The above image of the Whirlpool Galaxy was taken from William Keel's " Gif Farm " at the University of Alabama's Astronomy Site . It is reproduced here by permission. The original image may be modified for Astra's Stargate, "What's Up, Ron?" feature page. For additional information, also see Bill's write up on M51 .

The star chart above was generated by Stellarium, a free open source planetarium program. This image was created by Dawn Jenkins, using Stellarium and a graphic editing program to highlight M51 and to format the image for this web page. Stellarium offers much to amatuer astronomers and is being used in planetariums. Simple charts like the one above can be used on the internet for non-profit, illustration purposes. Proper credit is due of course! Thank you to the makers of this fine program from Astra's Star Gate.
* Also see Ron's What's Up? Bonus Issue December 2007 for more binocular information.

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