Another Month’s Stargazing Starts Today

This is entirely unofficial, but for me, springtime stargazing (for the northern hemisphere) starts in May.  The last of the snows are melting away, although where I live, it’s possible to get snow into June.  But, the evening temps aren’t dipping below zero and the springtime star patterns are climbing high in the sky.  So, this is when I like to start looking for Leo the Lion and Virgo the Maiden, and even Ursa Major (as it climbs high in the sky). If I lived in the southern hemisphere, I’d be checking out the Southern Cross and the great sprawling star-patterns of Centaurus and Carina.

This year, May features three planets: Venus, Mars, and Saturn.  Right now, Venus is glowing like a beacon in the western sky as I write this.  Mars is in Leo and Saturn is in Virgo.  This month, we also get an annular eclipse of the Sun, visible from parts of the U.S. and Pacific regions.  Not a bad month for skygazing, so if you’ve always wanted to check out the stars and planets, put on a jacket, grab some binoculars and head out as soon as it starts getting dark.

I’ve stargazed since I was a little kid, probably since I was five or so. Long before I knew that sailors used the sky for navigation, I knew that astronauts used stars to help orient themselves in space. Well before I knew what planets were, I would ask about Mars and dream about going there someday. It wasn’t until I was much older, in college, that I learned what role stars play in the universe, and how we are all made of star stuff. And, if that’s not amazing enough, even today, astronomers are still finding new things to study and marvel at, out there among the stars.  So, think about that as you stargaze these May evenings.