This Week's Sky at a Glance
Some daily events in the changing sky for May 8 May 16.
Friday, May 8
Saturday, May 9
Sunday, May 10
Monday, May 11
To the lower left of Pollux and Castor shines Procyon. Farther to their lower right shines Capella.
Tuesday, May 12
Thursday, May 14
Friday, May 15
Want to become a better amateur astronomer? Learn your way around the constellations. They're the key to locating everything fainter and deeper to hunt with binoculars or a telescope. For an easy-to-use constellation guide covering the whole evening sky, use the big monthly map in each issue of Sky & Telescope, the essential magazine of astronomy. Or download our free Getting Started in Astronomy booklet (which only has bimonthly maps).
Once you get a telescope, to put it to good use you'll need a detailed, large-scale sky atlas (set of charts; the standards are Sky Atlas 2000.0 or the smaller Pocket Sky Atlas) and good deep-sky guidebooks (such as Sky Atlas 2000.0 Companion by Strong and Sinnott, the more detailed and descriptive Night Sky Observer's Guide by Kepple and Sanner, or the classic Burnham's Celestial Handbook). Read how to use them effectively.
Can a computerized telescope take their place? I don't think so not for beginners, anyway, and especially not on mounts that are less than top-quality mechanically. As Terence Dickinson and Alan Dyer say in their Backyard Astronomer's Guide, "A full appreciation of the universe cannot come without developing the skills to find things in the sky and understanding how the sky works. This knowledge comes only by spending time under the stars with star maps in hand and a curious mind." Without these, they note, "the sky never becomes a friendly place."
More beginners' tips: "How to Start Right in Astronomy".
This Week's Planet Roundup
Venus (magnitude 4.7) shines brightly low in the east during dawn. Don't confuse it with Jupiter, higher and far to the right in the southeast. In a telescope, Venus is now a thick crescent about 33% sunlit. The best telescopic views come in full early-morning daylight, when Venus is higher in steadier air.
Mars (only magnitude +1.2) remains 6° lower left of Venus this week. Bring binoculars; Mars is about 200 times fainter than Venus!
Jupiter (magnitude 2.3, in Capricornus) shines brightly in the southeast before and during dawn.
Saturn (magnitude +0.8, in Leo) is highest in the south at dusk and moves to the southwest later. Regulus, not quite as bright, sparkles 15° to its right at dusk, and lower right later.
Uranus (6th magnitude) is low in the sunrise glow. It's to the upper right of Venus but 17,000 times fainter.
Neptune (8th magnitude) is the background of Jupiter and 11,000 times fainter.
Pluto (14th magnitude, in northwestern Sagittarius) is highest in the south before the first light of dawn. It's 250 times fainter than Neptune.
All descriptions that relate to your horizon or zenith including the words up, down, right, and left are written for the world's mid-northern latitudes. Descriptions that also depend on longitude (mainly Moon positions) are for North America. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) equals Universal Time (also known as UT, UTC, or GMT) minus 4 hours.
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