The moon will pass north of Ceres Saturday night. You'll need a star map and binoculars to locate this Texas-sized space rock. There's a handy finder chart at heavens-above.com. Ceres will appear stellar and a bit duller than the background stars. Give it a try since the moon will serve as a rough guide, and then fine tune your search with the star map. If you are unsuccessful in your hunt, try again another night. The moon will move away from the area and make it easier to locate in a darker sky. Read more
Tonight is first quarter. The moon officially rises today at noon and sets at 1:03 a.m. Friday morning. It transits (crosses the meridian - the imaginary line running north to south dividing the sky in half) at 6:36 p.m. tonight. A first quarter moon is separated from the sun in the sky by 90 degrees, and, in general, rises at about noon, is overhead at about 6 p.m., and sets at midnight. The first-quarter moon is bright, and earthshine is no longer apparent on its dark side. Read more
The crescent moon glides past Venus this weekend, adding a vivid dimension to the scale of our solar system. As we watch night to night, see how the Earths satellite heads past Mars, and later, Saturn. Each night of the moons trek, our night sky brightens more with the glare of sunlight increasingly reflecting off lunar soil. Venus is shining brilliantly westward during evening twilight. Glowing at -3.9 magnitude, the second planet from the sun outshines all the stars in the night sky- as seen from here. Its luminance is both due to the closeness to the Sun and its global cover of white clouds. Read more
The Moon will occult the planet Venus in the constellation Taurus, at around 11:30 UT, 16th May 2010. The occultation will be visible from North Africa, Middle East, and South East Asia.
This weekend, Venus and the crescent Moon are gathering in the western sky for a spectacular conjunction, and they're not alone. The International Space Station and, very likely, space shuttle Atlantis will join them for a rare four-way meeting of spaceships and planets over many locations. The show begins at sunset when Venus and the Moon emerge from the twilight in close proximity to one another. The Moon will be exquisitely slender, a 5% crescent on Saturday, May 15th (sky map), and a slightly fatter 10% crescent on Sunday, May 16th (sky map). Read more
May is also a good month to view the moon. It is best viewed from four days before to three days after the first quarter. From May 17-23 look along the terminator line with a small telescope or binoculars and you will find rugged mountains and awe-inspiring craters - most of these features billions of years old. Read more