![\"\"](\"https:\/\/dj9jqhxgw9833.cloudfront.net\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/04\/9E119C9BY4BV69OY6977596C5QEH-1024x1024.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/dj9jqhxgw9833.cloudfront.net\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/04\/b3fddb3e-e5ef-4ebb-a4fd-85214928a200.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\nWhen to use this chart<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n1 May at 00:00 AEST (14:00 UT) <\/strong><\/p>\n\n15 May at 23:00 AEST (13:00 UT) <\/strong><\/p>\n\n31 May at 22:00 AEST (12:00 UT)<\/strong><\/p>\n\nThe chart accurately matches the sky on the dates and times shown for Sydney, Australia. The sky is different at other times as the stars crossing it set four minutes earlier each night.<\/p>\n\n
\n\nMay highlights<\/strong><\/h4>\n\nRecommended equipment: Naked eye<\/strong><\/p>\n\nThe Eta Aquariid meteor shower can be impressive with meteors that are fast, yellow and have persistent trains. Active from 19 April to 28 May, the peak is on the night of the 6th and morning of the 7th. The shower is best seen in the predawn when the radiant is near maximum height and the sky is Moonfree. The radiant is where the shower appears to originate on the sky, in this case near the star Eta (\u03b7) Aquarii. At its peak, look in the general direction of Mars.<\/p>\n\n
Stars and constellations<\/strong><\/h4>\n\nRecommended equipment: Naked eye<\/strong><\/p>\n\nThe southern Milky Way is brilliantly displayed in May\u2019s evening skies. If you face due south, its most southerly portion rides high, crossing the meridian. Visually, this region lies around Musca, the Fly. The galactic equator passes close to Alpha (\u03b1) Centauri and Acrux (Alpha (\u03b1) Crucis). The central hub of the Milky Way is rising in the east, marked by Sagittarius\u2019s Teapot standing on its handle. The view of our Galaxy stretches across the sky and flows into the western horizon.<\/p>\n\n
The planets<\/strong><\/h4>\n\nRecommended equipment: Naked eye<\/strong><\/p>\n\nMornings present a feast of planets in May. Saturn is rising around midnight and transiting around dawn. To see Mars, Neptune, Jupiter and Venus at their best in the eastern sky, the predawn is a magic time. May opens with a view of Jupiter and Venus only 0.2\u00b0 apart! Mars has close conjunctions with Neptune on the 18th (0.7\u00b0 apart), followed by a meeting with Jupiter separated by less than 1\u00b0 for May\u2019s last three days. Uranus and Mercury reappear low at dawn at the month\u2019s end.<\/span><\/p>\n\nDeep-sky objects<\/strong><\/h4>\n\nRecommended equipment: Small\/medium telescope<\/strong><\/p>\n\nThis month we visit Virgo. Theta (\u03b8) Virginis (RA 13h 09.9m, dec. \u20135\u00b0 32\u2019) is an excellent double star for small scopes with a bright, white primary (mag. +4.4) and a fainter yellow companion (mag. +9.5), separated by 7 arcseconds.<\/span><\/p>\n\nRecommended equipment: Large telescope<\/strong><\/p>\n\nThe third magnitude star, Epsilon (\u03b5) Virginis, is a gateway to the Virgo\/ Coma Cluster of galaxies. Moving 2.5\u00b0 westwards from the star finds the first impressive eyepiece field of view, showing a pair of great (10th magnitude) galaxies! Although both are barred spirals their orientations are different. NGC 4762 (RA 12h 52.9m, dec. +11\u00b0 14\u2019) is edge-on, giving a needle-like appearance (5 arcminutes x 0.5 arcminutes), with a central bulge and a star-like nucleus. Only 11 arcminutes northwest lies NGC 4754, which is more face-on and shows an oval-shaped (3 arcminutes x 2 arcminutes) faint halo.<\/span><\/p>\n\n<\/p>\n\n
Catch the peak of the Eta Aquariids, and enjoy a month of morning planetary encounters<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":31462,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ub_ctt_via":"","purple_page_number":"100","purple_custom_meta_purple_page_number":"100","purple_seq_number":"1","purple_custom_meta_purple_seq_number":"1","purple_source_article":"article_100-1.xml","purple_custom_meta_purple_source_article":"article_100-1.xml","purple_source_issue":"May-2022","purple_custom_meta_purple_source_issue":"May-2022","purple_external_id":"May-2022-100-1","purple_custom_meta_purple_external_id":"May-2022-100-1","purple_issue_code":"|0000086552||","purple_custom_meta_purple_issue_code":"|0000086552||","purple_android_product":"com.im.skyatnight.204","purple_custom_meta_purple_android_product":"com.im.skyatnight.204","purple_ios_product":"com.im.skyatnight.204","purple_custom_meta_purple_ios_product":"com.im.skyatnight.204","purple_web_product":"","purple_custom_meta_purple_web_product":"","purple_publication_id":"075fab74-0a21-4201-866a-899d6c41c40c","purple_migrated":"","kt_blocks_editor_width":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[14],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/04\/9E119C9BY4BV69OY6977596C5QEH.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"3","apple_news_title":""},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/04\/9E119C9BY4BV69OY6977596C5QEH.jpg",2048,2047,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/04\/9E119C9BY4BV69OY6977596C5QEH-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/04\/9E119C9BY4BV69OY6977596C5QEH-300x300.jpg",300,300,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/04\/9E119C9BY4BV69OY6977596C5QEH-768x768.jpg",768,768,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/04\/9E119C9BY4BV69OY6977596C5QEH-1024x1024.jpg",800,800,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/04\/9E119C9BY4BV69OY6977596C5QEH-1536x1536.jpg",1536,1536,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/04\/9E119C9BY4BV69OY6977596C5QEH.jpg",2048,2047,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Catch the peak of the Eta Aquariids, and enjoy a month of morning planetary encounters","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31183"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31183"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31183\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31652,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31183\/revisions\/31652"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31462"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31183"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31183"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31183"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
15 May at 23:00 AEST (13:00 UT) <\/strong><\/p>\n\n 31 May at 22:00 AEST (12:00 UT)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n The chart accurately matches the sky on the dates and times shown for Sydney, Australia. The sky is different at other times as the stars crossing it set four minutes earlier each night.<\/p>\n\n Recommended equipment: Naked eye<\/strong><\/p>\n\n The Eta Aquariid meteor shower can be impressive with meteors that are fast, yellow and have persistent trains. Active from 19 April to 28 May, the peak is on the night of the 6th and morning of the 7th. The shower is best seen in the predawn when the radiant is near maximum height and the sky is Moonfree. The radiant is where the shower appears to originate on the sky, in this case near the star Eta (\u03b7) Aquarii. At its peak, look in the general direction of Mars.<\/p>\n\n Recommended equipment: Naked eye<\/strong><\/p>\n\n The southern Milky Way is brilliantly displayed in May\u2019s evening skies. If you face due south, its most southerly portion rides high, crossing the meridian. Visually, this region lies around Musca, the Fly. The galactic equator passes close to Alpha (\u03b1) Centauri and Acrux (Alpha (\u03b1) Crucis). The central hub of the Milky Way is rising in the east, marked by Sagittarius\u2019s Teapot standing on its handle. The view of our Galaxy stretches across the sky and flows into the western horizon.<\/p>\n\n Recommended equipment: Naked eye<\/strong><\/p>\n\n Mornings present a feast of planets in May. Saturn is rising around midnight and transiting around dawn. To see Mars, Neptune, Jupiter and Venus at their best in the eastern sky, the predawn is a magic time. May opens with a view of Jupiter and Venus only 0.2\u00b0 apart! Mars has close conjunctions with Neptune on the 18th (0.7\u00b0 apart), followed by a meeting with Jupiter separated by less than 1\u00b0 for May\u2019s last three days. Uranus and Mercury reappear low at dawn at the month\u2019s end.<\/span><\/p>\n\n Recommended equipment: Small\/medium telescope<\/strong><\/p>\n\n This month we visit Virgo. Theta (\u03b8) Virginis (RA 13h 09.9m, dec. \u20135\u00b0 32\u2019) is an excellent double star for small scopes with a bright, white primary (mag. +4.4) and a fainter yellow companion (mag. +9.5), separated by 7 arcseconds.<\/span><\/p>\n\n Recommended equipment: Large telescope<\/strong><\/p>\n\n The third magnitude star, Epsilon (\u03b5) Virginis, is a gateway to the Virgo\/ Coma Cluster of galaxies. Moving 2.5\u00b0 westwards from the star finds the first impressive eyepiece field of view, showing a pair of great (10th magnitude) galaxies! Although both are barred spirals their orientations are different. NGC 4762 (RA 12h 52.9m, dec. +11\u00b0 14\u2019) is edge-on, giving a needle-like appearance (5 arcminutes x 0.5 arcminutes), with a central bulge and a star-like nucleus. Only 11 arcminutes northwest lies NGC 4754, which is more face-on and shows an oval-shaped (3 arcminutes x 2 arcminutes) faint halo.<\/span><\/p>\n\n <\/p>\n\n Catch the peak of the Eta Aquariids, and enjoy a month of morning planetary encounters<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":31462,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ub_ctt_via":"","purple_page_number":"100","purple_custom_meta_purple_page_number":"100","purple_seq_number":"1","purple_custom_meta_purple_seq_number":"1","purple_source_article":"article_100-1.xml","purple_custom_meta_purple_source_article":"article_100-1.xml","purple_source_issue":"May-2022","purple_custom_meta_purple_source_issue":"May-2022","purple_external_id":"May-2022-100-1","purple_custom_meta_purple_external_id":"May-2022-100-1","purple_issue_code":"|0000086552||","purple_custom_meta_purple_issue_code":"|0000086552||","purple_android_product":"com.im.skyatnight.204","purple_custom_meta_purple_android_product":"com.im.skyatnight.204","purple_ios_product":"com.im.skyatnight.204","purple_custom_meta_purple_ios_product":"com.im.skyatnight.204","purple_web_product":"","purple_custom_meta_purple_web_product":"","purple_publication_id":"075fab74-0a21-4201-866a-899d6c41c40c","purple_migrated":"","kt_blocks_editor_width":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[14],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/04\/9E119C9BY4BV69OY6977596C5QEH.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"3","apple_news_title":""},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/04\/9E119C9BY4BV69OY6977596C5QEH.jpg",2048,2047,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/04\/9E119C9BY4BV69OY6977596C5QEH-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/04\/9E119C9BY4BV69OY6977596C5QEH-300x300.jpg",300,300,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/04\/9E119C9BY4BV69OY6977596C5QEH-768x768.jpg",768,768,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/04\/9E119C9BY4BV69OY6977596C5QEH-1024x1024.jpg",800,800,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/04\/9E119C9BY4BV69OY6977596C5QEH-1536x1536.jpg",1536,1536,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/04\/9E119C9BY4BV69OY6977596C5QEH.jpg",2048,2047,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Catch the peak of the Eta Aquariids, and enjoy a month of morning planetary encounters","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31183"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31183"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31183\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31652,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31183\/revisions\/31652"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31462"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31183"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31183"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31183"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n\nMay highlights<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n
Stars and constellations<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n
The planets<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n
Deep-sky objects<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n