Welcome to the May night sky. Now we are deep into the springtime in the northern hemisphere, with its warmer but shorter nights. Over in the east as darkness falls, we have rising the summer Milky Way and, inside it, we can see the three bright stars of the summer triangle – these are Vega in Lyra, Deneb in Cygnus and Altair in Aquila the Eagle.
Although these stars appear as the same brightness, the fact is that Deneb is by far the brightest of the three; it is just that it is much further away than the other two, so its brightness is reduced.
Seen rising just after darkness falls, over in the southeast, is the Milky Way constellation of Scorpius the Scorpion, with its red giant star Antares.
The planet Venus is at its greatest elongation from the Sun at the end of May, but it is not so easy to see as it is a morning object low in the pre-dawn sky in the constellation of Pisces.
The red planet Mars is still visible in the early evening sky in the constellation of Virgo, and on the 4th the first quarter Moon is close.
The gas giant planet Jupiter is in Taurus but disappearing in the evening twilight by the end of the month. The thin crescent Moon is close on the 28th. The ringed planet Saturn is close to Venus as a morning object, the Moon is close on the 23rd. Uranus is not visible this month as it is in conjunction with the Sun on the 17th.
May month has only one major meteor shower that is the Eta-Aquarids on the night of the 5th. This shower is more visible in the southern hemisphere and consists of dust left over from Halley’s comet. As with most meteor showers, they are better visible after midnight.
The Moon is at first quarter on the 4th in the constellation of Leo. On the 12th, we have the full Moon in the constellation of Scorpius. On the 20th, we have the Moon at last quarter in the constellation of Aquarius. On May 27, we have the new Moon on the constellation of Gemini.
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To see the May Sky Map, click on the pdf link below
https://www.portugalresident.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/2025-05-May-nightsky.pdf
