Poster Maker: Feng Juan
In May, the "Celestial Theater" ushered in a blowout. Astronomical forecasts show that Many "astronomical films" such as the extreme proximity of Venus Jupiter, partial eclipse, Aquarius η meteor shower extreme, total lunar eclipse, Mars Neptune polarity, Jupiter Mars with the moon, day and moon occultation of Venus, Mars Jupiter extremely close, and τ vulcans in the constellation of Vullasma will be released in a pile.
At dawn on May 1, the two brightest planets, Venus and Jupiter, will be in the nearest hour. Because both planets are very bright, even in cities with heavy light pollution, they can be easily captured with the naked eye.
This is a close-up of Venus and Jupiter taken by Beijing astronomy enthusiast Zong Haiyang (imposition). (Infographic, provided by me)
"In addition to this scene where the golden wood is extremely close, there will be a partial solar eclipse in Tianyu on that day, but the mainland is not visible." Xiu Lipeng, director of the Tianjin Astronomical Society and an expert in astronomical science, said that under normal circumstances, solar and lunar eclipses will appear in pairs. "There will be a total lunar eclipse on May 16, but it will happen during the day and it will not be related to the mainland."
The Aquarius η meteor shower, which has halley's comet "pedigree", will be extremely large at around 16:00 on May 6, with a maximum ZHR (the number of meteors that can be seen per hour when the radiation point is directly above the head under ideal viewing conditions) is about 50. "The radiation point of the meteor shower rises at 2 o'clock on the 6th, without moonlight interference, and friends who like meteor showers will have an observation window of about 2 hours." Xiu Lipeng said.
On May 18, Mars and Neptune were extremely close. "Interested members of the public would prefer to use a telescope if they want to enjoy it, because the faint Neptune cannot be seen with the naked eye. The public, who like astrophilimal photography, can also 'in the same frame' photograph the two planets. Xiu Lipeng said.
Comics Production: Hu Yanzhu
In late May, the Moon will travel to the low eastern altitude at dawn and meet the planets in turn. On May 25, the Moon will be accompanied by Mars and Jupiter to form a "crooked smiley face" pattern.
This is the extremely close Venus conjunction photographed by Astrophotography enthusiast Cui Yongjiang in Kunming during the day on February 26, 2014. (Courtesy of me)
At noon on May 27, the moon will cover Venus during the day, which is also a must-see scene this year, when astronomers in the southern region can see the moon "passing" in front of Venus, completely blocking Venus, while astronomers in the northern region can only see Venus and the moon. "The moon and Venus are both phased, and when they are covered, they are 'moon thin and golden', which is a stark contrast." Xiu Lipeng said.
After the wood fire accompanies the moon, the moon gradually approaches the sun, while Jupiter and Mars "attract" to each other and get closer and closer. On the morning of May 29, the two planets reached their closest points, separated by only 40 arc minutes, slightly larger than the apparent diameter of a full moon.
This is a close-up of Jupiter and Mars taken by Zhou Zhiwei, an astronomy enthusiast in Guangdong Province. (Infographic, provided by me)
On May 31, the τ meteor shower in the constellation of Wuxian was extremely large. "According to the simulations, Earth will pass through the dust clumps that erupted from the 1995 return of the parent comet of the meteor shower, and there may be a rainstorm of nearly a thousand meteors per hour, but it may also be a miscalculation, with only a pitiful single digit." Whether the meteor shower will eventually send a huge surprise, we can only wait and see. Xiu Lipeng said.
Planner: Liu Xinhui
Reporter: Zhou Runjian
Editor: Lian Changyan
It was co-produced by Xinhua News Agency and Tianjin Branch of Xinhua News Agency
Produced by Starry Sky Studios