168At about 9 p.m., on the 22nd,
after the sky has begun to
darken after sunset, Venus can
be used to help find Mercury,
a particularly elusive planet.
Around this date, Mercury will
appear less than two degrees
to the left of Venus, well within
the field of view of binoculars,
the instrument of choice for
most stargazers.
Mercury is three times
farther than Venus and will
appear a lot dimmer (1/30 as
bright), but you may be able to
see it without binoculars if
you have sharp eyes.
At 10 p.m. in the third week
of May, you will only see a few
stars from an urban location.
This part of the sky has few
bright stars. Looking high in
the sky, you are looking up
toward the north galactic pole,
located near the hazy area of
sky in the constellation Coma
Berenices—up and to the left of
Leo’s tail. There are few bright
stars between intergalactic
space and us.
M AY
Day of MonthDay of WeekBegin Civil Twilight (h:m)Sunrise Time (h:m)Az. (Deg.)Transit Time (h:m)Az. (Deg.)Sunset Time (h:m)Az. (Deg.)
1 Fri 5:18 5:50 67 13:00 60S 20:10 293
2 Sat 5:16 5:49 67 13:00 60S 20:11 294
3 Sun 5:14 5:47 66 13:00 61S 20:13 294
4 Mon 5:13 5:46 66 13:00 61S 20:14 295
5 Tue 5:11 5:45 65 12:59 61S 20:15 295
6 Wed 5:10 5:43 65 12:59 61S 20:16 295
7 Thu 5:08 5:42 64 12:59 62S 20:18 296
8 Fri 5:07 5:41 64 12:59 62S 20:19 296
9 Sat5:055:39 64 12:59 62S 20:20 297
10 Sun 5:045:38 63 12:59 62S 20:21 297
11 Mon 5:03 5:37 63 12:59 63S 20:22 297
12 Tue 5:015:35 62 12:59 63S 20:24 298
13 Wed 5:005:34 62 12:59 63S 20:25 298
14 Thu 4:59 5:33 62 12:59 63S 20:26 298
15 Fri 4:57 5:32 61 12:59 64S 20:27 299
16 Sat 4:56 5:31 61 12:59 64S 20:28 299
17 Sun 4:55 5:30 61 12:59 64S 20:29 300
18 Mon 4:54 5:29 60 12:59 64S 20:31 300
19 Tue 4:52 5:28 60 12:59 65S 20:32 300
20 Wed 4:515:27 60 12:59 65S 20:33 301
21 Thu 4:50 5:26 59 12:59 65S 20:34 301
22 Fri 4:49 5:25 59 13:00 65S 20:35 301
23 Sat 4:48 5:24 59 13:00 65S 20:36 301
24 Sun 4:47 5:23 58 13:00 66S 20:37 302
25 Mon 4:46 5:22 58 13:00 66S 20:38 302
26 Tue 4:45 5:21 58 13:00 66S 20:39 302
27 Wed 4:44 5:21 58 13:00 66S 20:40 302
28 Thu 4:44 5:20 57 13:00 66S 20:41 303
29 Fri 4:43 5:19 57 13:00 66S 20:42 303
30 Sat 4:42 5:19 57 13:00 66S 20:43 303
31 Sun 4:41 5:18 57 13:0167S 20:44 303