The Best Celestial Events to Watch in May for AstronomersAll of the best celestial events for astronomers to watch in May including meteor showers, deep space objects and the planets.
Moon Phases in May 2024
Many cultures refer to May's full moon as the flower moon thanks to the abundant blooming that occurs as spring gets going properly. Other names include the hare moon, the corn planting moon, and the milk moon.
| May 2024 Moon Phases | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat |
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | |||
| 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th | 11th |
| 12th | 13th | 14th | 15th | 16th | 17th | 18th |
| 19th | 20th | 21st | 22nd | 23rd | 24th | 25th |
| 26th | 27th | 28th | 29th | 30th | 31st | |
May 2024 Meteor Showers
The Eta Aquarids is an above-average shower, capable of producing up to 60 meteors per hour at its peak. Most of the activity is seen in the Southern Hemisphere. In the Northern Hemisphere, the rate can reach about 30 meteors per hour. It is produced by dust particles left behind by comet Halley, which has been observed since ancient times. The shower runs annually from April 19 to May 28. It peaks around May 6th and the morning of May 7th. Meteors will radiate from the constellation Aquarius, but can appear anywhere in the sky.
The Planets in May 2024
Mercury achieves its greatest western elongation of 26.4 degrees from the Sun on May 9th. Mercury will be at its highest point above the horizon in the morning sky, making this the best time to observe it. Just before sunrise, look for the planet low in the eastern sky.
Mercury is going to pass 1°21' from Uranus in the constellation Taurus on May 31. In the morning, the planets will be visible above the eastern horizon. Because the planets will be concealed by sunlight, this conjunction will be difficult to see from either hemisphere.
May 2024 Deep Space Objects
The spring night skies are home to some wonderful globular clusters. M3 in Canes Venatici and M5 in Serpens are good targets for a small telescope and can also be glimpsed with binoculars from sites with dark skies.
As Hercules rises, globular clusters M13 and M92 become visible targets. M13 is one of the brightest and best-known globular clusters in the northern sky. The Hercules Globular Cluster was the target of the Arecibo message, a message beamed from the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico in 1974, which contained information about the human race, Earth's location and other data. However, the message will never reach its target. It will arrive at the past position of M13 in about 25,000 years, but the cluster will no longer be there at that point.
Surfboard Galaxy (M108) is a barred spiral galaxy in Ursa Major. Even though it appears almost edge-on, M108 is a popular target among amateur astronomers and astrophotographers because details of its structure can be seen even in amateur telescopes. 3-inch telescopes will only reveal an elongated streak of light with a brighter core, while 8-inch instruments will hint at the galaxy's dusty regions and bright and faint patches.
The Owl Nebula (M97), is another famous object in Ursa Major. A planetary nebula forms when a dying Sun-like star ran out of hydrogen fuel, collapsed from a red giant to a white dwarf, and ejected its outer envelope. The expelled material is now heated by the radiation of the central white dwarf, producing the nebula's glow.
Also in Ursa Major, Bode's Galaxy (M81) and the Cigar Galaxy (M82) are a nice bright pair to track down.
In this table, the observation month represents the month in which the object reaches its highest point in the sky. It can also be viewed a few months before and after depending on your location. Direction is the compass direction in which the object is located, with Z meaning Zenith or overhead.
| # | Image | Common Name | Constellation | Coords | Direction | Mag | Size (arcmin) | Type | Star Chart |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| M49 NGC 4472 | Virgo | 12h 29.8m RA 08° 00m Dec | S | 9.40 | 10.2x8.3 | Elliptical Galaxy | 🔍︎ | ||
| M53 NGC 5024 |  | Coma Berenices | 13h 12.9m RA 18° 10m Dec | SE | 8.30 | 13 | Globular Cluster | 🔍︎ | |
| M58 NGC 4579 | Virgo | 12h 37.7m RA 11° 49m Dec | S | 10.50 | 5.9x4.7 | Galaxy | 🔍︎ | ||
| M59 NGC 4621 | Virgo | 12h 42.0m RA 11° 39m Dec | S | 10.60 | 5.4x3.7 | Galaxy | 🔍︎ | ||
| M60 NGC 4649 | Virgo | 12h 43.7m RA 11° 33m Dec | S | 9.80 | 7.4x6 | Galaxy | 🔍︎ | ||
| M61 NGC 4303 | Swelling Spiral Galaxy | Virgo | 12h 21.9m RA 04° 28m Dec | S | 10.18 | 6.5x5.8 | Galaxy | 🔍︎ | |
| M62 NGC 6266 | Flickering Globular Cluster | Ophiuchus | 17h 01.2m RA -30° 07m Dec | S | 7.39 | 15 | Globular Cluster | 🔍︎ | |
| M63 NGC 5055 |  | The Sunflower Galaxy | Canes Venatici | 13h 15.8m RA 42° 02m Dec | Z | 9.30 | 12.6x7.2 | Galaxy | 🔍︎ |
| M64 NGC 4826 |  | The Blackeye Galaxy | Coma Berenices | 12h 56.7m RA 21° 41m Dec | Z | 9.36 | 10.7x5.1 | Galaxy | 🔍︎ |
| M65 NGC 3623 | Leo Triplet | Leo | 11h 18.9m RA 13° 05m Dec | S | 10.25 | 8.7x2.4 | Galaxy | 🔍︎ | |
| M66 NGC 3627 | Leo Triplet | Leo | 11h 20.2m RA 12° 59m Dec | S | 8.90 | 9.1x4.2 | Galaxy | 🔍︎ | |
| M68 NGC 4590 | Hydra | 12h 39.5m RA -26° 45m Dec | S | 9.67 | 11 | Globular Cluster | 🔍︎ | ||
| M80 NGC 6093 | Scorpius | 16h 17.0m RA -22° 59m Dec | S | 7.87 | 10 | Globular Cluster | 🔍︎ | ||
| M81 NGC 3031 |  | Bodems Galaxy | Ursa Major | 09h 55.6m RA 69° 04m Dec | Z | 6.94 | 26.9x14.1 | Galaxy | 🔍︎ |
| M82 NGC 3034 |  | Cigar Galaxy | Ursa Major | 09h 55.8m RA 69° 41m Dec | Z | 8.41 | 11.4x4.3 | Galaxy | 🔍︎ |
| M83 NGC 5236 | Southern Pinwheel Galaxy | Hydra | 13h 37.0m RA -29° 52m Dec | S | 7.54 | 12.9x11.5 | Galaxy | 🔍︎ | |
| M84 NGC 4374 | Markarian's Chain | Virgo | 12h 25.1m RA 12° 53m Dec | S | 10.10 | 6.5x5.6 | Galaxy | 🔍︎ | |
| M85 NGC 4382 | Coma Berenices | 12h 25.4m RA 18° 11m Dec | S | 10.00 | 7.1x5.5 | Galaxy | 🔍︎ | ||
| M86 NGC 4406 | Markarian's Chain | Virgo | 12h 26.2m RA 12° 57m Dec | S | 9.80 | 8.9x5.8 | Galaxy | 🔍︎ | |
| M87 NGC 4486 | Virgo A | Virgo | 12h 30.8m RA 12° 24m Dec | S | 9.59 | 7.2x6.8 | Galaxy | 🔍︎ | |
| M88 NGC 4501 | Coma Berenices | 12h 32.0m RA 14° 25m Dec | S | 10.40 | 6.9x3.7 | Galaxy | 🔍︎ | ||
| M89 NGC 4552 | Virgo | 12h 35.7m RA 12° 33m Dec | S | 10.73 | 5.1x4.7 | Galaxy | 🔍︎ | ||
| M90 NGC 4569 | Virgo | 12h 36.8m RA 13° 10m Dec | S | 10.26 | 9.5x4.4 | Galaxy | 🔍︎ | ||
| M91 NGC 4548 | Coma Berenices | 12h 35.4m RA 14° 30m Dec | S | 11.00 | 5.4x4.3 | Galaxy | 🔍︎ | ||
| M94 NGC 4736 |  | Cat's Eye Galaxy | Canes Venatici | 12h 50.9m RA 41° 07m Dec | SW | 8.99 | 11.2x9.1 | Galaxy | 🔍︎ |
| M95 NGC 3351 | Leo | 10h 44.0m RA 11° 42m Dec | SW | 11.40 | 3.1x2.9 | Galaxy | 🔍︎ | ||
| M96 NGC 3368 | Leo | 10h 46.8m RA 11° 49m Dec | SW | 10.10 | 7.6x5.2 | Galaxy | 🔍︎ | ||
| M101 NGC 5457 |  | Pinwheel Galaxy | Ursa Major | 14h 03.3m RA 54° 21m Dec | Z | 7.86 | 28.8x26.9 | Galaxy | 🔍︎ |
| M102 NGC 5866 |  | Spindle Galaxy | Draco | 15h 06.5m RA 55° 45m Dec | NE | 10.70 | 4.7x1.9 | Galaxy | 🔍︎ |
| M104 NGC 4594 | Sombrero Galaxy | Virgo | 12h 40.0m RA -11° 37m Dec | S/SW | 8.98 | 8.7x3.5 | Galaxy | 🔍︎ | |
| M105 NGC 3379 | Leo | 10h 47.8m RA 12° 35m Dec | SW | 10.20 | 5.4x4.8 | Galaxy | 🔍︎ | ||
| M106 NGC 4258 | Canes Venatici | 12h 19.0m RA 47° 18m Dec | SW | 9.10 | 18.6x7.2 | Galaxy | 🔍︎ | ||
| M107 NGC 6171 | The Crucifix Cluster | Ophiuchus | 16h 32.5m RA -13° 03m Dec | S | 8.85 | 13 | Globular Cluster | 🔍︎ | |
| M108 NGC 3556 |  | The Surfboard Galaxy | Ursa Major | 11h 11.5m RA 55° 40m Dec | Z | 10.70 | 8.7x2.2 | Galaxy | 🔍︎ |
| M109 NGC 3992 |  | Vacuum Cleaner Galaxy | Ursa Major | 11h 57.6m RA 53° 23m Dec | Z | 10.60 | 7.6x4.7 | Galaxy | 🔍︎ |
