Moon and Spica
Spica, the brightest star of Virgo, stands close to the lower left of the Moon at nightfall. The Moon slides toward it during the night, so they are especially close as they set, in the wee hours of the morning.
Spica, the brightest star of Virgo, stands close to the lower left of the Moon at nightfall. The Moon slides toward it during the night, so they are especially close as they set, in the wee hours of the morning.
A horse and rider gallop across the north and northwest on May evenings. They are in the handle of the Big Dipper, which is high in the sky at nightfall. They’re the stars Mizar and Alcor. Mizar is the brighter of the two, with fainter Alcor just a whisker away.
As the last blush of evening twilight fades away, look almost due west for Procyon, the little dog star. It’s not all that high in the sky, but if you have a clear horizon, it will stand out.
Beautiful Cygnus, the swan, returns to the evening sky this month. It rises in the northeast by about 11 p.m. Its brightest star is Deneb, which marks the swan’s tail. Its body stretches to the right of Deneb, through the glow of the Milky Way.
The Moon and the heart of the lion stand close together this evening. The lion’s heart is the star Regulus, below the Moon at nightfall.
The spiral galaxy NGC 3432 is about 30 million light-years away, in Leo Minor, the little lion. The galaxy is too faint to see without a telescope. It’s high above the Moon this evening. The bright star Regulus stands to the left of the Moon.
The star Rasalhague represents the head of Ophiuchus the serpent bearer, while Rasalgethi is the head of Hercules. Rasalhague climbs into good view in the east by 10 p.m., with fainter Rasalgethi above it by about the width of three fingers held at arm’s length.
The Moon passes especially close to the star Pollux tonight – the brighter “twin” of Gemini. The star stands just to the right of the Moon at nightfall. The other twin, Castor, is farther along the same line.
Corona Borealis, the northern crown, stands half-way up the eastern sky as darkness falls this evening. It is a small semicircle of moderately bright stars that opens to the left. It is crowned by a binary star system known as Alphecca.
Leo is best known for its bright stars, especially Regulus, its brilliant heart. But the lion also contains quite a few bright galaxies. Leading the list are three galaxies that form the Leo Triplet: M65, M66, and NGC 3628.