Starry Skies Above Santa Monica

May 12-19, 2004

Mirek Plavec
Emeritus Professor of Astronomy,
UCLA
  
   May Sun in Taurus
   The Sun is still projected in front of the stars of Taurus, the Celestial Bull, but is rapidly approaching Gemini.
   On Sunday, May 16, the Sun will rise at 5:50 a.m., six minutes earlier than a week ago, and set at 7:49 p.m., 6 minutes later than a week ago.
  
   The Fading Moon
   The Moon will be projected in the direction of the Sun on Wednesday, May 19, which means that the Moon will show us its dark side, and thus be invisible.
   Tonight, the Moon will rise at 2:42 a.m. and will be projected into Aquarius – quite far below the celestial equator, 14.4 degrees. Nearly 40 per cent of its face will be illuminated, as seen by us. Each subsequent night will bring us a narrower lunar crescent, rising later and later. The rising times will not be delayed much from one night to the next, since the Moon will travel not only to the east, but to the north as well. Usually, the Moon’s rising times come about 50 minutes later from one night to the next, but for the next several nights rising times will be only about 26 minutes later.
   The Moon will pass from Aquarius (the Water Bearer) to Pisces (the Fishes), then to Aries, the Celestial Ram, and enter Taurus, the Bull. Originally, I wrote “will shine in Taurus”, but I had to correct myself, since on Wednesday, May 19, the Moon will be New, and therefore invisible, showing us only its dark hemisphere.
  
   Venus, the Famous Evening Star
   … still adorns our western evening sky, shining much more brightly than any other star-like object in the sky, be it another planet or a real star. Venus is now projected into the eastern part of the constellation Taurus, the Bull, approaching Gemini, the Celestial Twins. Venus culminates above the south during full daylight, before 3 p.m. Thus, when the sky gets sufficiently dark, say after 8 p.m., you should look for Venus above the western horizon, where the planet still sets fairly late, after 10 p.m.
   Planet Mars is located to the east of Venus, fairly close to it, but is absolutely no competition for Venus. The brightness of Mars now moves it closer to the second stellar magnitude, and several stars in its vicinity shine brighter than Mars. However, it will probably still be possible to recognize the reddish color of the planet’s light.
   Jupiter culminates above the south at 8 p.m., and later shines in the west, where it sets after 2 a.m. Jupiter is always bright and has no match in the stellar sky around. It shines in front of the stars of Leo, the Lion.
   Saturn culminates during daylight, at 4 p.m., but you can still see it in the west when the sky gets dark; it sets shortly after 11 p.m. It is projected into the constellation of Gemini, the Celestial Twins. The Twins, Castor and Pollux, that gave the constellation its name, are located farther to the east of Saturn.
   Mercury reaches its greatest western elongation from the Sun on Friday, May 14. This means that it will precede the Sun in rising. However, the planet is projected 11 degrees lower than the Sun, and therefore precedes the Sun just by one hour in rising, and will be lost in the bright morning sky.