Sky Show: Moon under Stellar Arc
Written by The Night Sky Guy on May 6, 2011 – 4:29 pm -Watch as Earth’s closest neighbour gets crowned this weekend! Timed perfectly for International Astronomy Day on Saturday, May 7th the crescent Moon will be bejeweled with an grand arc of the most brilliant stars in the western evening skies. This will be a great opportunity to begin learning your way around the night sky by letting the Moon be your guide to some bright stars that are lead members of different Springtime constellations.
On May 7th the Moon is decked out in a beautiful stellar crown. Courtesy of Starry Night Software
Face towards the western horizon after sunset and here is what you’ll see: To the left of the Moon will be Procyon – the lead star in the constellation Canis Minor- the little dog. Above the Moon will be two bright equally bright stars, Pollux and Castor, representing the heads of the Gemini twins. Then to the Moon’s far right will be the orange hued beacon, Capella – the lead star of Auriga – the charioteer. Step outside Saturday after sunset and see if you can hunt these stellar jewels down for yourself!
Sky Show Bonus: The planets will be on display in the early morning skies throughout the month of May. Four of the brightest, Mercury, Venus, Mars and Jupiter will be clustered very low in the eastern horizon at dawn. I will have a viewer’s guide ready for tomorrow…so stay tuned!
Tags: Auriga, Canis Minor, Gemini
Posted in Constellations, Stargazing, The Moon, stars | Comments Off
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