~ St. Maarten’s Backyard Astronomy for May 26 & 27 ~
Sun rises at 5:37am
Sun sets at 6:42pm
Moon phase: second quarter, waxing gibbous
Moon rises at 4:19pm
Moon sets at 3:35am
This weekend, look in the eastern part sky to see the moon and the planet Jupiter adding their beauty to the deepening twilight. These two worlds should be fairly easy to see before true darkness falls, because the moon and Jupiter rank as the second-brightest and fourth-brightest celestial bodies, respectively, after the sun. After you spot the moon and Jupiter, look in the opposite direction to enjoy an eyeful of the third-brightest celestial body, the planet Venus.
Because this is Jupiter’s opposition month, Jupiter is enjoying its moment of glory. The king planet is now shining about 25 times more brilliantly than a 1st-magnitude star. The star Antares, which serves as a prime example of 1st-magnitude star, appears close to the southeast horizon at nightfall and early evening.
Jupiter is truly the giant world in our solar system. The diameter of Jupiter is about 11 times that of our planet Earth. But its surface area is about 121 (11 x 11 = 121) times greater than Earth’s surface area, and its volume is about 1,331 (11 x 11 x 11 = 1,331) times the volume of Earth. The moon appears much larger than Jupiter in our sky, but that’s only because the moon is so much closer.
At present, the moon lies nearly 245 thousand miles (394 thousand kilometres) away, while Jupiter lies far beyond the moon, at nearly 1,700 times the moon’s distance from Earth. Jupiter is some 318 times more massive than planet Earth. The king planet is more than twice as massive as all the other solar system planets, dwarf planets, minor planet and moons combined.
By midweek, May 30 and 31, the moon will be in its waning gibbous phase and the planet Saturn will be nearby. Look to the southeast horizon for a few hours after sunset. The moon rises first on May 30, followed by Saturn; and then on May 31, the moon and Saturn more closely rise in unison. If you have trees, mountains or buildings blocking the southeast, you’ll have to relocate or wait till later on in the night to see the moon and Saturn shining side by side.
Thank you for keeping up with the Night Sky articles. If you are out later on in the week, each star rises about four minutes earlier each day than written here, and the moon rises 50 minutes later. Night Sky is researched and compiled by Lisa Davis-Burnett. Earthsky.org is a key resource for information and images. Questions or comments? Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
