Australasian Science - May 2016

HIGHLIGHTS IN MAY 2016

The Southern Cross is well placed for

observation as it is now high in the south -east.

The brightest star of the Cross, Acrux, is the

closest to the horizon, while the next brightest,

Beta Crucis or Mimosa, is to the east. Jupiter is

located in the northern sky in the constellation

of Leo and is directly next to the crescent moon

on the 15th. Mars and Saturn appears low in the

east in Scorpius, while the full Moon between

the two planets on the 22nd. The Eta Aquariids

meteor shower will occur this month. Look for it

in the eastern sky in the early morning of the 6th.

THE CHART

The star chart shows the stars and constellations visible in

the night sky for Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, Hobart and

Adelaide for March 2015 at about 9 pm (summer time) and

at about 8 pm (local standard time) for Perth and Brisbane.

For Darwin and similar locations the chart will still apply, but

some stars will be lost off the southern edge while extra stars

will be visible to the north. Stars down to a brightness or

magnitude limit of 4.5 are shown on the star chart. To use

this star chart, rotate the chart so that the direction you are

facing (north, south, east or west) is shown at the bottom.

The centre of the chart represents the point directly above

your head, called the zenith point, and the outer circular

edge represents the horizon.

MOON PHASE

Sydney Observatory is part of the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences. The Sydney Observatory night sky map was created by Dr M. Anderson using the TheSky

software. This month’s edition was prepared by Dr Dimitri Douchin. © 2016 Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences, Sydney.

New Moon 07 th

First quarter 14 th

Full Moon

Last quarter^

22 nd

29 th

Bright star

Faint star

Ecliptic Milky Way

Celestial Equator

Planet

LMC or Large Magellanic Cloud

SMC or Small Magellanic Cloud

P

CHART KEY

Sirius

Castor

Pollux

Canopus

CANIS MINOR

HYDRA

HYDRA

SEXTANS

Antares

M4

M7

M6

Coalsack

Jewel Box

First QuarterMoon on 14th

J lB

Mimosa

P

FALSE CROSS

SOUTHERNCROSS

POINTERS

OPHIUCHUS

Proxima Centauri

ERIDANUS

P

Jupiter on 15th

P

Saturn on 22nd

Mars on 22nd

Full Moon on 22nd

MAY 2016|| 51

AUSTRALASIAN SKY Dr Andrew Smith, Sydney Observatory

May 2016