In the night sky this week, Mars is hanging out in Leo, sinking below the horizon around midnight. The red planet is getting dimmer as the Earth pulls away from the red planet.
On Wednesday, the very thin crescent moon passes north of Jupiter. They both set after dark.
In the morning, the bright object you see around an hour before sunrise in the east, is Venus. It is gaining in brightness as it closes in on Earth’s orbit. On Saturday morning the waning crescent moon lays to the left of the planet.
Saturn is to the upper right of the bright Venus. This is a good time to look at the ringed planet through binoculars or a small telescope because to the planet’s northeast, you can find Neptune. It will look like a small blue-green star.
Vega shines in the northeast as summer’s brightest star. It is twice the size of our sun and only 25 light years from us. Vega has been our North Star in the past and again in the distant future.
So, grab a blanket, maybe a telescope or binoculars, and enjoy the cosmic spectacle this week has to offer this week through May 30th. The night sky is putting on quite a show this week—let’s take a look at what’s up there!