What's Up for May 2008

The sky is dark, the stars are gleaming – time for some astronomy. But wait a minute. I don't recognise any of them. Where are Orion and the Plough? I'm lost.

If this means you, read on. We can tell you how to spot the stars, pick out the planets, get to grips with the galaxies... OK that's enough alliteration. But you get the idea.

Now then, young stargazers. It may be May but it can still can get cold at night, so put your coat on. Don't worry, no-one can see you and pretend they aren't cold at all even though they are only wearing a T-shirt.

You will need a star map, and you will need to know how it works. This may seem obvious, but there is a knack to understanding these things. Here's our map for this month:



Wrong way round?
Now don't write in and tell us that we have the points of the compass all wrong. This is a map of the sky, so you have to hold it over your head. When you do this, east and west will be the right way round.

It shows the whole sky, so the scale is quite small. Normally you turn to see different parts of it, so to see the view looking north, for example, hold the map upside down with north at the bottom.

The map shows the sky in mid May at about 10.30 pm, at the start of the month at 11.30 pm, or by the end of the month at 9.30 pm, though at this time of year the sky is too light to see much at that time. Roll on summer. All times are BST.

TIP If you aren't sure of the direction of north from your location, click here for a page on Getting Your Bearings.

Making sense of the stars
If it all looks just like a lot of dots, and drives you dotty, here's the way to get to grips with the sky. Start with something familiar and work from there. Most people recognise the seven stars that in the UK we call the Plough and in the US is called the Big Dipper. If you can't find it, it's because you aren't looking high enough – it's almost above your head at this time of year, so it's shown at the centre of this map.

Look below the Plough, about halfway between there and the horizon, and you will see a group of stars called Leo, which this year has the addition of the planet Saturn.  Saturn is close to the star Regulus.

Now use the map below to find more patterns nearby, but don't expect to see those convenient lines helping you to see the patterns. If you do see them, consult an optician or give back those glasses your friends gave you on 1 April.


All maps produced using Stellarium software.

Other constellations to look for
Lower down and to the left of Leo is Virgo with its bright star Spica. Another way to find Spica is to go up to the Plough and follow the curve of its handle round. First you come to a very bright star, Arcturus, and then you come to Spica, which is a lot lower in the sky. On the map is marked a sort of Y shape, which is quite easy to pick out, which helps you to spot Virgo.

If you want a map with all the constellation names on it, click here.

Mars retreats
If you wanted to see Mars at its closest, sorry, you're too late. It is now in the constellation of Gemini, over to the west, and is moving away from Earth (or more accurately the Earth is speeding away from Mars in its faster orbit closer to the Sun). It's now less than 6 arc seconds across (which in plain language means irritatingly small). But if you have a telescope you should be able to see its orangey disc, and if you look really carefully you should still see dark markings on the planet. Don't expect them to leap out at you, though. They are really faint with most small telescopes.

But don't miss out on the chance, because Mars won't be any larger until late 2009.

Super Saturn
If Mars is on its way out, Saturn is easy to see. It's still high in the sky, and just a small telescope should show its rings. Even with good binoculars you may be able to see that it's a bit more than just a dot. If what you are looking at doesn't have rings, you are looking at the wrong thing.

Next year, however, Saturn's rings will be almost edge on to us, so they could be much harder to see. So this month is a good one for  planet-spotting.

For a detailed list of things happening in the sky, click here.

What about the Moon, then?
It appears as a crescent in the evening sky around the 7th, then gets higher and thicker until it is first quarter on the 12th. By the 20th it rises as a full Moon at sunset, and for another few days it is so bright that you don't see many stars. By the 28th it rises at about 2.30 am at last quarter. Sorry, no eclipses this month.

Printer-friendly map
If you want a map to take out with you that won't use up most of your ink cartridge when you print it, try those below.