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May 2014 Night Sky
As the year advances the days get longer, so you’ll need to stay up
later for dark stargazing skies. It’s definitely worth it though as there
are many interesting constellations and astronomical objects to see.
This Night Sky Guide will set you off in the right direction!
www.at-bristol.org.uk
Constellation of the month: Ursa Minor
Ursa Minor is Latin for ‘Little Bear’. Look at the picture below and you’ll see that his tail is very
long. According to legend it’s stretched because it’s tied to the North Star, which the sky seems to
spin around. Ursa Minor looks quite happy though, so maybe he likes having an impressive tail.
Image: Stellarium
Finding Ursa Minor
Draco
The best way to find Ursa Minor is by using
the end stars in the Saucepan to point to the
North Star. This is the end of Ursa Minor’s
tail. Then use the picture on the left to trace
out the other stars.
The North Star
Ursa Major
The Saucepan
Look out for…
Camelopardalis
Cepheus
The North Star
The North Star has been used for navigation
since ancient times and is still useful today.
People often mistakenly think that the North
Star is the brightest star in the sky. Actually
this award goes to… the Sun! The brightest
star in the night sky is called Sirius, which is
an impressive sight in the Winter.
News flash: Distant planet may be like Earth
Astronomers using a special planet-finding telescope have discovered a distant
world orbiting in the “habitable zone” of its star — where temperatures are just
right for liquid water. The planet, called Kepler-186f, is thought to be rocky, and
a similar size to the Earth. This raises the tantalising possibility that it may be
home to alien life. Unfortunately we won’t be visiting in person any time soon,
as Kepler-186f is 500 light-years away!
Artist’s impression of Kepler-186f. Credit: NASA Ames/SETI Institute/JPL-Caltech .
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The planets in May as visible to the naked eye
Mercury
Venus
Mars
Jupiter
Saturn
scrapes the horizon in the west straight after sunset.
may be glimpsed low in the east before dawn.
shines orange-red, high in the south.
is low in the west, setting around midnight.
is in the south-east, close to the Moon in the middle of May.
Theme of the month: the Moon
Our own planet Earth has one natural satellite: the Moon. It’s a familiar
sight in our skies, and our nearest celestial neighbour. At around 250,000
miles (384,400 kilometres) from Earth, if you could (somehow!) drive
there in a car it would take about four months.
The Moon is so bright that sometimes we can even spot it during the day,
but at night and through binoculars and telescopes we can see the most
detail. People often assume that it’s best to look at the Moon when it’s
full, but then the Sun’s light is
shining head on so it’s hard to
make features out. It’s best to
observe when the Moon is a
crescent, as then there are long
shadows along the ‘terminator’ –
where light meets dark.
Only 12 people have walked on the
surface of the Moon. The first was
Neil Armstrong in 1969. The last
was Eugene Cernan in 1972. Would Astronaut Buzz Aldrin on the surface of the
Moon. Image credit: NASA.
you like to walk on the Moon?
www.at-bristol.org.uk
Moon calendar
7 May
First Quarter
14 May
Full Moon
21 May
Last Quarter
28 May
New Moon
Would you like to know more?
Zooniverse is a collection of projects that lets you help professional astronomers and maybe make a real
Image credit:
Shuttle Crew andtoNASA.
discovery.
VisitSTS-119
www.zooniverse.org
get started.
Stellarium is a planetarium program for your computer, showing a realistic 3D sky just as you would see if
looking with your eyes or a telescope. Best of all, it’s completely free. Download it at www.stellarium.org
Heavens Above is a website for you to create customised sky maps and see when satellites like the
International Space Station and Iridium flares will be visible. Try it at www.heavens-above.com
Smartphone apps for astronomy are excellent ways to help you navigate the night sky.
Google Sky Map for Android and Planets for iPhones are free apps to start you off in the right direction.
The Bristol Astronomical Society is a group of local stargazers who are always keen to help beginners.
Find out more via www.bristolastrosoc.org.uk
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