An overview of the major celestial bodies of the Solar System
Sun: Operates in Aries from 1 to 14 and enters Taurus from 15. May 5 is summer, May 21 is a small full.
Mercury: All running in Taurus this month. On the 1st-11th, the sunset star, after sunset, appears at a low altitude in the west, the brightness drops from +0.5 to +2.5, and the observation conditions deteriorate rapidly. On the 11th, it was changed to retrograde and approached the sun. On the 22nd Mercury, the sun is lower and is not visible. Thereafter, the evening star becomes a morning star, but is too close to the sun to be visible.
Venus: Morning Star, anterograde in Pisces on 1-8, anterograde in Cetus on 9-12, and anterograde in Pisces on 13-31. During the month, the sun angle decreases from 42° to 37°, the brightness is maintained at -4, and it rises from the east at about 3 o'clock. As you get closer to the Sun, the viewing conditions begin to deteriorate. Venus joined Jupiter on May 1, and the distance between the two was only 0.25°.
Mars: 1-19 in Aquarius anterograde, 20 into Pisces anterograde. The month rises at around 2:30 a.m. and at the end of the month at about 1:04 p.m. The angle from the Sun is expanded from 59° to 65°, and the apparent brightness is about +0.7.
Jupiter: Anterograde in Pisces. The angle of distance from the Sun expands rapidly from 42° at the beginning of the month to 66° at the end of the month. The lifting time is advanced from about 3:20 to about 1:40. Apparent brightness is about -2.2 and so on. 1
Saturn: Anterograde in Capricorn. The month rises at around 1:45 a.m. and at the end of the month at about 1:45 p.m. The distance angle from the Sun rapidly expands from 76° to 104°, and the apparent brightness is about +0.7.
Uranus: Anterograde in Aries. Close to the sun, not visible. On May 5, Uranus meets the sun, located behind the sun.
Neptune: Anterograde in Aquarius on the 1-2nd, and enter the Pisces anterograde from the 3rd. The sun angle expands from 46° to 74°, the rise time at the end of the month is about 1:15, and the apparent brightness is about 7.8.
Recommended this month
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MUST SEE
May 1 Venus Gipiter
Rare index ★★★★ ☆
Difficulty index ★ ☆☆☆☆☆
Referral index ★★★★★
Last month, we experienced several close encounters between planets, as well as the phenomenon of four stars and isometric arrangements. This month, the distance between these planets will be slightly wider, but there are still a few chances to meet.
In the early morning of May 1, Venus joined Jupiter, only 0.25° apart, which is very interesting. Venus-4 and Jupiter-2 are the two brightest stars in the sky. With the naked eye, Venus and Jupiter are almost next to each other, and the visual perception of their brightness will be superimposed, making them more dazzling. If you had a small and medium-sized telescope, you would see that Venus and Jupiter have different phases because one is located on the inside of the Earth and the other is located on the outside of the Earth. And you can also see Jupiter's 4 Galilean moons at the same time, of which Ganymede also happened to pass in front of Jupiter's surface! It is desirable to use a telescope with an aperture of more than 15 cm. If you have the chance, be sure to remember to find the two brightest stars at low in the southeast around 4 a.m. The next time Venus reaches that close distance from Jupiter will be two years away.
Venus and Jupiter on May 1, 2022 (Source: Brother Water/Stellarium Simulation)
Schematic diagram of Venus and Jupiter (Source: Water Brother/Stellarium Simulation)
May 1: Sun-biased diet
Rare index ★★ ☆☆☆
Difficulty index ★★★★★
Recommended index ★ ☆☆☆☆
There have been only two solar eclipses this year, and both are partial eclipses. The eclipse began at 2:45 a.m. Beijing time on May 1, 2022 and lasted until 6:38 a.m., lasting nearly four hours. Obviously, this eclipse China can't see. The eclipse area is in part of the southeast Pacific Ocean, part of the Antarctic continent and Argentina, Chile and other places, and the largest eclipse division is 0.639.
Solar eccentric eclipse on May 1, 2022 (Beijing time) (Source: Purple Mountain Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences)
Aquarius η meteor shower on May 6
Rare index ★ ☆☆☆☆☆
Difficulty index ★★ ☆☆☆☆
Referral index ★★★★★
The first larger meteor shower of the 2022 meteor shower season. The International Meteor Organization predicts ZHR values at 40 to 50. The phase of the moon on May 6 is a winding concave moon, and the radiation point will rise after 2 o'clock, so this year's Aquarius η meteor shower has no moonlight interference and the observation conditions are good. We can watch from after 2 o'clock until before sunrise, paying attention to the overhead position and the southeastern direction. Unfortunately, the meteor shower is not extremely large in the early morning of Beijing time.
Schematic diagram of the Aquarius η meteor shower on May 6, 2022 (Source: Water Brother/Stellarium simulation)
May 16: All meals
Rare index ★★★ ☆☆
Difficulty index ★★★★★
Recommended index ★ ☆☆☆☆
There are also only two lunar eclipses this year, both of which are total eclipses. This is rare. The lunar eclipse of 16 May occurred in eastern Oceania, eastern Pacific, and North America (except the north), south America, the Atlantic, Africa, southwestern Europe, and Antarctica, but not on the mainland.
May 18 Mars meets Neptune
Rare index ★★ ☆☆☆
Difficulty index ★★★★ ☆
Recommended index ★★ ☆☆☆
Last month, Jupiter and Neptune and Venus joined Neptune, and this month Mars will surpass Neptune. On May 18, Mars joined Neptune, and the distance between the two was only 0.57°. Mars is 0.7 magnitude, Neptune is 7.8 rated, and the brightness difference is about 700 times. Try binoculars around 4 a.m. to see what kind of "dance of ice and fire" they will take place.
15× Mars and Neptune as seen in 70mm binoculars. (Source: Water Brother/Stellarium Simulation)
May 27: Midnight Moon
Rare index ★★★★ ☆
Difficulty index ★★★★★
Recommendation index ★★★★ ☆
Near noon on May 27, Venus meets the moon. A rare daylight moon occultation of Venus can be seen off the southeast coast of China, Southeast Asia, and southern Madagascar. Since the brightness of Venus reaches magnitude -4, it is not impossible to see directly with the naked eye at noon when the weather is clear and the atmosphere is transparent, but it takes luck. Interested friends can write down this celestial phenomenon. It must be reminded that there is no need to install filters to observe the lunar occultation of Venus, but it is necessary to pay attention to safety and avoid the sun when looking for the moon and Venus. The age of the month is 26.5° and it is about 37° from the Sun.
Simulation of the daytime lunar occultation process of Venus on May 27, 2022. (Source: Water Brother/Stellarium Simulation)
Moments of seeing Venus in major cities (Source: Interesting Astronomical Wonders)
May 29 Mars Jupiter
Rare index ★★★ ☆☆
Difficulty index ★★★★ ☆
Recommended index ★★★★☆
Another planetary encounter this month is Mars and Jupiter on May 29, and the distance between the two is only 0.6°, so a small telescope or binoculars can also keep them in the same frame. However, Mars is only 0.6 magnitude, so it looks far less dazzling than Venus and Jupiter.
May 29, 2022 Mars and Jupiter (Source: Brother Water/Stellarium Simulation)
31 May τ Meteor Shower (?)
Rare index ★★★★★
Difficulty index ★★★ ☆☆
Recommended index ★★★★☆
There may also be a mysterious meteor shower on May 31 called the τ Meteor Shower in the constellation. It comes from a dissoluted comet, Comet Schwarzmann-Wachman 3. International meteor organizations predict that this year may usher in an outbreak, ZHR is not known (in previous years ZHR is not stable), may reach tens of thousands, may also be very disappointing. But unfortunately, peaks can occur on the other side of the globe and we miss the best parts. So will you catch some "small shrimp rice" before and after the peak? May 31 was also a moonless night, and the radiation points were visible all night, making them particularly suitable for observation. For an unknown meteor shower, the best way to understand it is to observe it and collect more data, isn't it?
Location of the τ meteor shower radiation point in the constellation Officiation (Source: Water Brother/Stellarium simulation)
Star chart at 10:00 a.m. on May 15, 2022 (left) and 22:00 p.m. on May 15, 2022 (right) (Source: HEAVENS-ABOVE.com)
This month's celestial phenomenon is scanned completely