Australasian Science — May-June 2017

50 ||MAY/JUNE 2017

AUSTrALASiAN SKy

HIGHLIGHTS IN MA Y 2017

The best tim e to view the Moon wit h a small

telescope or binoculars is a few days eith er si de of

its first quarter phase on the 3rd. Ju piter, t he

largest pl anet in our solar syst em, c an be easily

spotted high in the east wit hin the constellation of

Virg o (the Maiden). Siri us, the brightest st ar in the

night sky, c an be found in the west, f orming a part

of Canis Major (t he Great Dog). Hig h in the sky t his

month are the constellations of Cancer (t he Crab),

Leo (the Lion), and Li bra (t he Scales). Cr ux (the

Southern Cross) is well placed for observation as

it is now high in t he south-east. The Eta Aquariids

meteor shower will occur this m onth. Look for it in

the eastern sky i n the early m orning of the 6 th.

THE CHART

The star chart s hows t he stars and constellations visi ble in the

night sky f or Syd ney, M elbourne, Bris bane, Canberra, Hobart ,

Ade laide and Perth f or Ma y 2017 at about 7.30pm (local

standard tim e). F or Darwin and simil ar northerly l ocations, the

chart will still apply, but s ome stars will be lost off t he southern

edge while extra stars will be visibl e to t he north. St ars down

to a brightness or magnitude limit of 4.5 are shown on the star

chart. T o use this st ar chart, r otate it so that the dir ection you

are facing (n orth, south, east or west) is s hown at the bottom.

The centre of th e chart re presents t he point directly above

your head, called the zenith point, a nd the outer circ ular edge

represents th e horizon.

MOON PHASE

Sydney O bserv atory is part of th e Museum of Applied Arts and Scie nces. Th e Sydney O bserv atory night sky map was created by Dr M. Anderso n using the TheSky

software. T his mo nth’s edition was prepared by Bre nan Dew. © 2017 Mus eum of A pplied Arts and Scie nces, Sydney.

First quarter 03rd

Full Moon 11th

Last quarter

New Moon^

19th^

26th

STAR BRIGHTNESS

Zero or brighter

1 st magnitude

2 nd^

3 rd

4 th

Brigh t star

Faint st ar

Ecliptic Milk y Way

Celestial E quator

Pla net

LMC or Large Magellanic Cl oud

SMC or Sm all Magellanic Cl oud

P

CHART KEY

Castor

Pollux

HYDRA

HYDRA

SEXTANS

M 7

M6

Coalsack

First quarter Moon on 3rd

Mimosa

FALSE CRO SS

SOUTHERN CROSS

POINTERS

OPHIUCHUS

Proxima Centauri

ERIDANUS

P Jupiter

May 2017