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TWO eclipses, a great apparition of Mercury, Mars passing through an open cluster, and all the naked-eye planets visible make May and June of 2021 an action-packed pair of months.

         Welcome to Observing With Webb, where a high school astronomy teacher tells you what you’re looking at, why it’s so cool, and what you should check out later this month…at night. 

Naked-eye PLANETS...

Sunset – Mars, Mercury, Venus

• Mars (W) – Look W after sunset to find the non-twinkling reddish-orange dot, much brighter than everything around it. Mars will move up through Gemini in May and through Cancer in June. It starts off about halfway up the sky in May, and ends only about 15˚ above the horizon at the end of June. 
• Mercury (WNW) – Pretty much visible all month, VERY low in the WNW after sunset. You’ll need a clear horizon, but if there were a good time to find Mercury, this month is it.  Mid-May is perhaps the best time, since that’s when it’s highest in the sky, and a thin crescent Moon is nearby to help guide you (details later).  Or perhaps the 28th, when very bright Venus (300x brighter than Mercury) is about ½˚ away, making a great guidepost, even though both will be very low on the horizon.
• Venus (WNW) – Starts its “evening star” appearance late in May, and stays around 10˚ above the horizon at dusk throughout June, never really getting more than 15˚ above the horizon this time around.

Throughout the night – None at the moment

Morning – Saturn, Jupiter

• Saturn, Jupiter – The two gas giants are in the SE, getting higher and rising earlier each day. Look SE in the morning (after 3am in the beginning of the month, after 12:30am by the end of June).  Jupiter will be on the left, with Saturn to the right about 15˚. 

EVENTS...

May

Waning Gibbous (Mostly lit, rises later at night)

Last Quarter Moon – 3rd (Visible from midnight into the morning)

Morning Crescents (look East in the AM)

New Moon – 11th (darkest skies)

Evening Crescents (look West after Sunset)

First Quarter Moon – 19th (Visible until midnight)

Evening Gibbous (Mostly lit, after Sunset)

Full Moon – 26th (Visible all night)

June

Waning Gibbous (Mostly lit, rises later at night)

Last Quarter Moon – 2nd (Visible from midnight into the morning)

Morning Crescents (look East in the AM)

New Moon – 10th (darkest skies)

Evening Crescents (look West after Sunset)

First Quarter Moon – 18th (Visible until midnight)

Evening Gibbous (Mostly lit, after Sunset)

Full Moon – 24th (Visible all night)

May 3rd – 5th – Close Encounter – Moon, Saturn, Jupiter – Before sunrise in the SE, between 3:30am and 6am EDT on these mornings, a beautiful crescent Moon will be passing by our two biggest gas planets.  On the 3rd, the Moon will be down and to the right of Saturn. On the next morning (the 4th) the Moon will be under and between Jupiter and Saturn, making a great triangle.  Then on the 5th, the crescent Moon hangs out just 7˚ below and to the left of Jupiter.

May 12th – 16th – Close Encounter – Moon, Venus, Mercury, Mars – Each of the solar system’s terrestrial planets get a nice visual close encounter with our Moon this week.  Every night, get out there right after sunset and find yourself a good clear view of the WNW horizon. Each night, Venus will be the lowest and brightest planet, with Mercury just 8˚ above it, and dim, and Mars about 35˚ above the horizon in Gemini. On the

           12th: An extremely thin and barely visible crescent Moon will be less than 1˚ away from bright Venus, both VERY low on the horizon.

           13th: A slightly thicker Moon will now be just 3˚ to the left of Mercury, and considerably higher above the horizon.

           14th: A thicker and higher Moon will be directly between Mercury and Mars

           15th: The Moon will be 3˚ down and to the right of Mars

           16th: The Moon will be above Mars.

May 26th – TOTAL LUNAR ECLIPSE – Missed it by THAT much!  East coasters will not really be able to see anything, however, the further West you are, the more likely you’ll be able to catch a glimpse of the partial portions of the eclipse.  If you want the best view, either go to the middle of the Pacific Ocean, or head to eastern Australia. More info here.

May 30th – June 3rd – Close Encounter – Moon, Saturn, Jupiter – After 2am but before sunrise, go out and look SE for the Moon, Jupiter, and Saturn.  Each day, Jupiter will be the brightest point of light, with Saturn almost two fist-widths to the right.  The Moon creeps up to them from the right on May 30th, is closest to Saturn on the 31st, and then closest to Jupiter on June 1st.  The Moon then moves to the left of Jupiter for the 2nd and 3rd.

June 10th – ANNULAR SOLAR ECLIPSE – (Viewing changes by location. More info can be found here or by using Stellarium for your location. I will focus on Southeastern Pennsylvania.)  This type of eclipse only happens every couple of years, and even less frequently at each particular location.  This will be quite a sight, especially given its unique timing and location. 

So what’s happening?  The Moon is passing in front of the Sun from Earth’s perspective, casting a dark shadow near the North Pole, and a lighter shadow on parts of the Northern Hemisphere.  One big difference between this eclipse and the eclipse of 2017 is that the Moon is a little further away in its orbit.  This makes it appear a little bit smaller, and hence not quite big enough to block the ENTIRE surface of the Sun.  This means that if you are in the path of the eclipse, you will see a ring of the Sun’s surface instead of complete darkness and the Corona. 

So what does that mean for those of us in the Eastern US? This will be a sunrise eclipse, meaning that you need to get a nice view of the Northeast horizon, and get out there to watch the sun rise as a portion of its formal self.  For example, here in Lancaster County, PA, sunrise is 5:34am, which is pretty close to the time of maximum eclipse.  At that moment, the sun will rise in the NNE, looking like a crescent Moon, but much brighter.  Yes, you’ll need to protect your vision just like you would for a typical solar eclipse.  More information here.  Over the next hour, as the Sun rises up about 15˚, the Moon will shift to the left and uncover more and more of the Sun’s surface until about 6:30am, which is last contact. 

12th – 14th – Close Encounter – Moon, Venus, Mars – On the 12th of June, get out right after sunset, look West, and find a VERY thin crescent Moon right in between Mars and bright but low Venus.  On the following night (the 13th), the Moon will be less than 3˚ above Mars.  Then on the 14th, the three make a nice line, almost evenly spaced.

20th – Summer Solstice – This is the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere.  There’s a bit of explanation as to why here.

22nd – 24th – Mars and Beehive Cluster – In a somewhat rare occurrence, Mars appears to become one of many stars in the Beehive Cluster in Cancer, especially on the 23rd.  This is definitely worth a look through your telescope or binoculars, though you might see the cluster with your naked eye if your skies are especially dark. This cluster is thousands of stars, 500 light years away, in our Milky Way galaxy.  Mars will be much brighter than the cluster stars.

26th – 30th – Close Encounter – Moon, Saturn, Jupiter – After midnight look SE, or in the morning look South to find the Moon, with bright Jupiter and Saturn nearby.  The Moon is closest to Saturn on the morning of the 27th, in between on the 28th, and closest to Jupiter on the 29th.

CONSTELLATIONS...

Use a sky map from www.skymaps.com to help you out.

After Dinner, Before Bed:

Big Dipper, Bootes, Virgo, Corona Borealis, Hercules – Gaze almost vertically as you face the NW, and you’ll easily find the Big Dipper: seven very bright stars that form a spoon shape. Now if you take the handle of the Dipper, follow its curve to the next bright star you see, about 30˚ away, which is Arcturus. “Follow the arc to Arcturus.” That’s the brightest star in Bootes, which looks like a kite. Take that same curve, and follow it about another 20˚ to “speed on to Spica”, the brightest star in Virgo, one of my favorite constellations, since it reminds me of the Dickinson Mermaid.  Now go back to Bootes, and just to the left of Bootes are seven stars that form the northern crown Corona Borealis, which looks more like a small bowl or a “C” in the sky. Continue a little further to the left and you’ll find the keystone asterism which is part of the constellation Hercules. Extra Challenge! Look for M13, the Hercules Cluster in between two of Hercules’ “keystone” stars.  It known as the best globular cluster in the northern skies.  It will be a fuzzy spot in binoculars and will be even cooler through a telescope

Before Work:

Summer Triangle – Lyra, Cygnus, Aquila – Look pretty much straight above you, and find the brightest star up there. You’ll notice a parallelogram attached to it. This is the brightest star Vega, part of the constellation Lyra, the harp. Directly above you will be Cygnus the Swan, with its brightest star Deneb. It will look like a large cross, or if you look out a little further, a swan flying above you. Below Cygnus and Lyra is the third constellation of the Summer Triangle, Aquila the Eagle, with its brightest star Altair. The three bright stars in this one can be easily confused for Orion’s belt, given their similar size, however they are not in line as straight, and are part of a bigger diamond shape.  Use a star chart to find small Delphinus and Sagitta in the area as well.