Podcaster: Rob Webb
Title: Observing With Webb in May 2021
Organization: Physics teacher at Pequea Valley High School
Link: http://mrwebb.podbean.com ;
https://sites.google.com/site/mrwebbonline/ ;
http://www.youtube.com/user/MrWebbPV
https://sites.google.com/site/pvplanetarium/home
follow me : @MrWebbPV on Twitter and Instagram
This podcast is found on: Podbean page, Stitcher, and iTunes. There’s also a video version on YouTube Channel.
The Pequea Valley Planetarium and its events and updates are on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram as @pvplanetarium.
Description:
A total lunar eclipse if you’re lucky, a great apparition of Mercury, and all the naked-eye planets visible make May of 2021 an action-packed month.
Bio: Rob Webb is a physics, astronomy, and sustainability teacher at Pequea Valley High School in Pennsylvania. His passions include teaching, astronomy, astrophotography, planetariums, running, reading, and golf. A proud graduate of Dickinson College in 2005, he also obtained a Master’s Degree in Science Education from Penn State University after conducting research in regards to the current state of planetariums in Pennsylvania. Feel free to contact him at rob_webb@pequeavalley.org
Today’s sponsor: Big thanks to our Patreon supporters this month: David Bowes, Dustin A Ruoff, Brett Duane, Kim Hay, Nik Whitehead, Timo Sievänen, Michael Freedman, Paul Fischer, Rani Bush, Karl Bewley, Joko Danar, Steven Emert, Frank Tippin, Steven Jansen, Barbara Geier, Don Swartwout, James K. Wood, Katrina Ince, Michael Lewinger, Phyllis Simon Foster, Nicolo DePierro, Tim Smith.
Please consider sponsoring a day or two. Just click on the “Donate” button on the lower left side of this webpage, or contact us at signup@365daysofastronomy.org.
Or please visit our Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/365DaysOfAstronomy
Transcript:
A total lunar eclipse if you’re lucky, a great apparition of Mercury, and all the naked-eye planets visible make May of 2021 an action-packed month.
Welcome to Observing With Webb, where a high school astronomy teacher tells you what you’re looking at, why it’s so cool, and what you should check out later this month…at night.
Naked-eye PLANETS…
Sunset – Mars, Mercury, Venus
- Mars (W) – Look W after sunset to find the non-twinkling reddish-orange dot, much brighter than everything around it. Mars will move up through Gemini. It starts off about halfway up the sky in May, and ends only about 15˚ above the horizon at the end of June.
- Mercury (WNW) – Pretty much visible all month, VERY low in the WNW after sunset. You’ll need a clear horizon, but if there were a good time to find Mercury, this month is it. Mid-May is perhaps the best time, since that’s when it’s highest in the sky, and a thin crescent Moon is nearby to help guide you (details later). Or perhaps the 28th, when very bright Venus (300x brighter than Mercury) is about ½˚ away, making a great guidepost, even though both will be very low on the horizon.
- Venus (WNW) – Starts its “evening star” appearance late in May, and stays around 10˚ above the horizon at dusk throughout May, never really getting more than 15˚ above the horizon this time around.
Throughout the night – None at the moment
Morning – Saturn, Jupiter
- Saturn, Jupiter – The two gas giants are in the SE, getting higher and rising earlier each day. Look SE in the morning (after 3am in the beginning of the month, after 12:30am by the end). Jupiter will be on the left, with Saturn to the right about 15˚.
EVENTS…
Waning Gibbous (Mostly lit, rises later at night)
Last Quarter Moon – 3rd (Visible from midnight into the morning)
Morning Crescents (look East in the AM)
New Moon – 11th (darkest skies)
Evening Crescents (look West after Sunset)
First Quarter Moon – 19th (Visible until midnight)
Evening Gibbous (Mostly lit, after Sunset)
Full Moon – 26th (Visible all night)
May 3rd – 5th – Close Encounter – Moon, Saturn, Jupiter – Before sunrise in the SE, between 3:30am and 6am EDT on these mornings, a beautiful crescent Moon will be passing by our two biggest gas planets. On the 3rd, the Moon will be down and to the right of Saturn. On the next morning (the 4th) the Moon under and between Jupiter and Saturn, making a great triangle. Then on the 5th, the crescent Moon hangs out just 7˚ below and to the left of Jupiter.
May 12th – 16th – Close Encounter – Moon, Venus, Mercury, Mars – Each of the solar system’s terrestrial planets get a nice visual close encounter with our Moon this week. Every night, get out there right after sunset and find yourself a good clear view of the WNW horizon. Each night, Venus will be the lowest and brightest planet, with Mercury just 8˚ above it, and dim, and Mars about 35˚ above the horizon in Gemini. On the
12th: An extremely thin and barely visible crescent Moon will be less than 1˚ away from bright Venus, both VERY low on the horizon.
13th: A slightly thicker Moon will now be just 3˚ to the left of Mercury, and considerably higher above the horizon.
14th: A thicker and higher Moon will be directly between Mercury and Mars
15th: The Moon will be 3˚ down and to the right of Mars
16th: The Moon will be above Mars.
May 26th – TOTAL LUNAR ECLIPSE – Missed it by THAT much! East coasters will not really be able to see anything, however, the further West you are, the more likely you’ll be able to catch a glimpse of the partial portions of the eclipse. If you want the best view, either go to the middle of the Pacific Ocean, or head to eastern Australia. More info here.
May 30th – June 3rd – Close Encounter – Moon, Saturn, Jupiter – After 2am but before sunrise, go out and look SE for the Moon, Jupiter, and Saturn. Each day, Jupiter will be the brightest point of light, with Saturn almost two fist-widths to the right. The Moon creeps up to them from the right on May 30th, is closest to Saturn on the 31st, and then closest to Jupiter on June 1st. The Moon then moves to the left of Jupiter for the 2nd and 3rd.
CONSTELLATIONS…
Use a sky map from www.skymaps.com to help you out.
After Dinner, Before Bed:
Leo, Big Dipper, Bootes – Leo will be high in the South, almost straight above you. It has a backward question mark with a right triangle to the left of the question. If you look above Leo, behind you and high in the sky, you should find the Big Dipper: seven very bright stars that form a spoon shape. Now if you take the handle of the Dipper, follow its curve to the next bright star you see, about 30˚ away, which is Arcturus. “Follow the arc to Arcturus.” That’s the brightest star in Bootes, which looks like a kite. Take that same curve, and follow it about another 20˚ to “speed on to Spica”, the brightest star in Virgo, one of my favorite constellations, since it reminds me of the Dickinson Mermaid.
Before Work:
Lyra, Hercules, Hercules Cluster – Look pretty much straight above you, and find the brightest star up there. You’ll notice a parallelogram attached to it. This is the brightest star Vega, part of the constellation Lyra, the harp. Next to that is a keystone shaped constellation called Hercules. On the right side of the keystone is a small cluster of stars known at the Hercules Cluster, which is a collection of hundreds of stars on the outskirts of our galaxy. Given how high it is in the sky right now, you might catch its faint fuzziness with your naked eye, but a set of binoculars or a small telescope will really help you see it.
End of podcast:
365 Days of Astronomy
=====================
The 365 Days of Astronomy Podcast is produced by Planetary Science Institute. Audio post-production by Richard Drumm. Bandwidth donated by libsyn.com and wizzard media. You may reproduce and distribute this audio for non-commercial purposes.
This show is made possible thanks to the generous donations of people like you! Please consider supporting to our show on Patreon.com/365DaysofAstronomy and get access to bonus content.
After 10 years, the 365 Days of Astronomy podcast is poised to enter its second decade of sharing important milestone in space exploration and astronomy discoveries. Join us and share your story. Until tomorrow! Goodbye!