2020-05-01_Astronomy

AND

TRI

ARI PSC

PEG

SGE

EQU

LAC

AQR

CAP SCT

AQL SER

CYG LY R

VUL

PER

OPH

HER

CRV

COM

CVn

BOÖ

CrB

SER

VIR

LIB

PSC

CET

SCL

TAU

FOR

ERI

SGR

CrA

SCO LUP

Celestial equator

Moon phases Dawn Midnight

Sun

Path

(^) of (^) th
e Mo
on
Uranus
Pluto
Saturn
Neptune
Ceres
Jupiter
Mars
The Moon passes 2° south
of Jupiter on May 12
Herculina
Pallas
Iris
23 22 21 20 19 18 17 1516 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5
Mercury
Venus
Ceres
Earth Mars
Uranus
Neptune
Saturn
Pluto
Venus
Jupiter
Jupiter
Mercury
Superior conjunction
is May 4
40 ASTRONOMY • MAY 2020
THE PLANETS
IN THEIR ORBITS
Arrows show the inner
planets’ monthly motions
and dots depict the
outer planets’ positions
at midmonth from high
above their orbits.
To locate the Moon in the sky, draw a line from the phase shown for the day straight up to the curved blue line.
Date
Magnitude
Angular size
Illumination
Distance (AU) from Earth
Distance (AU) from Sun
Right ascension (2000.0)
Declination (2000.0)
PLANETS
May 31
0.0
7.4"
47%
0.910
0.397
6h11.7m
25°28'
May 15
–4.6
48.5"
12%
0.344
0.723
5h21.9m
27°14'
MERCURY VENUS
PATHS OF THE PLANETS