The fifth post in this series revolves, how could it be otherwise, about the sky in May 2020. As in the past months, I was able to inspire you with articles from this series for heaven. So, why shouldn't I provide you with information about the moon, the planets and the constellations in May? Exactly, there is nothing against it, not even against the Eta aquariids.
In April , I changed my articles and put the highlights at the beginning. That's how I'll keep it for this article.
The time for night photography is also noticeably shorter. While 9.5 hours can be expected as a "dark" night at the beginning of May, only eight dark hours can be expected at the end of May.
The Eta Aquariids – shooting stars again
The Eta Aquariids plunge from the sky on 07 May 2020. The Eta Aquariids are a meteor shower that begins to show up on May 5th. The top of the Eta aquariids will then appear in the constellation of Aquarius in the early morning of May 7, 2020 at around 4:00 am.
The Eta aquariids will not be so clearly visible in the Berlin area, one shooting star per hour is expected. In other places there can be real fireworks, because in the best case 50 shooting stars pounce on our home planet.
At this point I show you some pictures of the Lyrids, who flew ahead of the Eta Aquariids. 😉
A triangle in the sky in May 2020
Now it is irrevocably spring. May brings warm days and the meteorologists will explain to us again that from daytime temperatures of 25 ° Celsius one speaks of summer days (20 ° Celsius at night is an indication for tropical nights). In the sky in May 2020 you can then observe a triangle, the spring triangle.
With Regulus in the constellation Leo, Spica in the constellation of Virgo and Arcturus, the one in the constellation of the Bearkeeper, the three corners are occupied.
Source: Wikipedia
Planets in the sky in May 2020
The "star" in May is without question Jupiter. It replaces Venus more and more. In addition, Mars and Saturn appear in the night sky. In good conditions, our ringed comrade is easy to see with binoculars including his rings.
You have probably noticed the bright evening star, which joined the Pleiades in April and with the moon represented a "guardrail" for the ISS , says goodbye as a reliable companion in the evening sky.
And what does the moon do?
In the sky in May 2020, the moon also shows up in its phases. At the beginning of the month, the moon shows its waxing side. The waxing crescent will appear in the sky on April 30, 2020.
May 7, 2020 is full moon. And even in May, the full moon has other names. One also speaks of the merry moon or flower moon. The connections with the merry month and the surrounding flowers explain the names. But also rabbit moon, plant moon, corn planting moon, milk moon and Marian moon are common.
Lunation 1204 will then end with the waning crescent moon on May 14, 2020 and the following lunation – number 1205 – will then begin with the new moon on 22.05.2020. The sky in May 2020 will then hold the waxing crescent moon for us on 30.05.2020.
Last but not least, I show the inclined readership how the Starlink satellites race across the Berlin night sky. I am already announcing an article on this topic here.