Astronomy events to mark on your May calendar

AccuWeather

Penn State Professor of Astronomy Chris Palma joins AccuWeather to go over the most exciting stargazing events for the month of May including the Eta Aquarid meteor shower, which will peak on May 5-6.

Transcript

00:00Well, May does bring warmer weather and some great stargazing in the night sky.

00:03Professor Chris Palma of Penn State University joins us again for this month's astronomy event.

00:08Thanks so much for being with us.

00:10Sure, thank you.

00:11All right, we'll start with a meteor shower.

00:13What makes the Ada Aquarian event stand out?

00:16What could we see and when is the best time to watch?

00:20Yeah, I think one thing that makes it stand out is Earth is really passing through Halley's comet debris.

00:27So that's kind of a fun reason for this meteor shower.

00:31It's for morning observers.

00:33So you would want to be up, you know, 4 a.m., 5 a.m.

00:36You're going to see shooting stars near the horizon rather than up high in the sky.

00:41But the mornings of May 5th and May 6th would be the best time to look for these shooting stars.

00:47That's perfect timing for you and I.

00:49We're up.

00:50Step out.

00:51All right.

00:51Now, we also have the flower moon.

00:55That's May's full moon.

00:57Why is it called that and what makes this full moon so special?

01:03Yeah, the names for moons like that really come from lots of different cultures.

01:09I've heard different Native American groups call it the flower moon, although some have other names.

01:14Different European cultural groups call it the flower moon.

01:17But it's really because the moon has always been associated with agriculture.

01:22When should we plant?

01:23When should we harvest?

01:24And this full moon every year happens around the time all the wildflowers are in bloom.

01:29I usually tell everybody the best thing about the full moon, just get outside and look at it.

01:34If you want to up your level of difficulty, try and identify different features.

01:38But it's our monthly full moon, and it should look just as spectacular as ever.

01:44I've got to get out my telescope.

01:45Got to.

01:46All right.

01:46The moon will line up with Venus and Saturn later in the month.

01:50How rare is this alignment, and when can we expect it to happen?

01:53Yeah, so this is closer to the end of the month, so around May 22nd and 23rd.

02:00It's another early morning thing, perfect for both of you.

02:04I always like to say, think of the moon and the planets like runners on a track, with the

02:10moon being the fast runner and the planets being the slower joggers.

02:14So every month, the moon will catch up with the planets and lap them.

02:18So an individual alignment is pretty common, but an alignment with two different planets,

02:24Venus and Saturn at the same time, is a little more rare.

02:28But this isn't the most rare astronomical event.

02:30But it's definitely eye-catching because of how bright the moon and Venus are both.

02:35All right.

02:36More about Venus.

02:36At the end of May, Venus reaches greatest western elongation.

02:41What in the world does that mean?

02:43Yeah.

02:44So we sometimes call Venus the evening star or the morning star.

02:49It's the brightest object that you can see.

02:52But we look for it either right before sunset or right, sorry, yeah, right before sunset,

02:59right before sunrise.

03:00So greatest elongation means it'll be actually in the highest position you will see it in

03:05the sky for the year.

03:07So it'll be visible for more hours.

03:11It'll be brighter.

03:12If you look at it through a telescope, you'll see a different phase.

03:15So lots of great observing of Venus, but it just means that it'll be highest in the sky

03:20at that time of the year.

03:22Professor Chris Palma of Penn State University, thanks for joining us again.

03:26And you know what I'm going to say to the professor?

03:29We are.

03:31Penn State.

03:32You betcha we are.

03:34It's a great way to join us.

03:37We are.

03:40See you guys.

03:40Mm-hmm.

03:42Thanks.

03:44Nice.

03:44ej2-

03:45You.

03:47You.

03:47Right.

03:48Thanks for joining us.

03:49Matt.

03:49Thanks for joining us.

03:50Against us.

03:52This is very important.

03:53Thanks for joining us.

03:54Thanks for joining us.

03:55Thanks for joining us.

03:57Bye.

03:58Bye.

03:59Bye.

04:00Bye.

04:01Bye.

04:02Bye.

04:03Bye.

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