Mercury is in the Western sky after sunset throughout much of May. Best time to observe is within a few days of May 14th.
Venus The morning star is now too close to the Sun to easily see. Look for Venus' reappearance as the evening star in late July.
Mars is slowly dimming and appears lower in the West, but is still an easy object to find as it shines around magnitude 1.3 during May. The red planet passes through M44 on May 23rd.
Jupiter rises within an hour of midnight throughout May. Ganeymede and Europa's shadow will simultaneously transit the gas giant on May 11 (around 4 am).
Saturn remains the prime early evening telescope target during May. It's high in the western sky at dusk about 5 degrees East of Regulus.
Outer Planets. Uranus and Neptune rise around 2 and 4 hours before sunrise.
Pluto, still a planet by decree of the Governor Bill Richardson, rises around 11 pm early in the month, and around 9 pm by month's end.
Comets, Meteors and Satellites:
Comet Holmes is now too dim to easily view. The comet will move through M38 on May 3 and could make a nice photographic target.
Comet Boattini C/2007 W1 is brightening rapidly and should be a nice telescopic and photographic target during May. Look here for a finder chart.
Eta Aquarids Meteor Shower peaks on the morning of May 5. the New Moon should favor viewing. A finder chart showing the radiant is shown on the right.
The International Space Station makes a couple of nice evening passes on May 21 and 23rd. Several good morning passes are expected in May (5/2, 5/3, 5/21, 5/22). See Heavens-Above.com for more details.
Constellations and Deep Space Objects:
Hydra. May is a good month to view the entirety of Hydra. Throughout the month, the serpent constellation is visible in the Southern sky after dusk. You'll need a fairly dark sky to see its faint stars. Hydra is our DSO tour of the month constellation. Maps and deep sky objects may be found on the DSO Tour page.
Omega Centauri! (pictured at left). The brightest globular cluster in the night sky might actually be a dwarf galaxy with a black hole at its core. Galaxy or globular, this object is splendid and visible low in the South between 10 pm and 11 pm during May. It's clearly visible in a dark sky to the naked eye. Binoculars or telescopes really show off the cluster's magnificence.
