Here is a print- friendly version of this page.. Click here for the current Moon phase (Java applet requires Microsoft Internet Explorer or Netscape 4.04 or higher) This Week's Sky at a Glance May 12 -- May 20, 2000 By the Editors of Sky & Telescope Click on image for larger view. MAY 12 -- FRIDAY The Big Dipper floats very high in the north on May evenings, turned upside down. Its bowl is to the left and its bent handle is to the right. The Dipper is almost straight overhead as seen from the latitudes of the northern U.S. and southern Canada; it's somewhat lower as seen from the southern U.S. MAY 13 -- SATURDAY In the Big Dipper (see above), locate the star at the bend of the handle. This is Mizar. Look for Mizar's tiny companion star, Alcor, barely below it; you'll need sharp eyes. Alcor is always in the direction from Mizar toward Vega, now shining brightly fairly low in the northeast. MAY 14 -- SUNDAY The Moon shines above Spica, the brightest star in Virgo, this evening. MAY 15 -- MONDAY The Moon shines to the left of Spica this evening. MAY 16 -- TUESDAY The brightest star in the northwest during and after dusk at this time of year is Capella. Far to Capella's upper left are Pollux and Castor, lined up more or less horizontally. Far to their lower left is Procyon. MAY 17 -- WEDNESDAY Full Moon tonight (exact at 3:34 a.m. Thursday morning Eastern Daylight Time). The five classical naked-eye planets (Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn) all fit within a 20-degree stretch of sky. Unfortunately the Sun is also among them, hiding all from view except possibly Mercury and Mars (see the Planet Roundup below). MAY 18 -- THURSDAY Look to the lower right of the Moon late this evening for the orange-red supergiant star Antares. MAY 19 -- FRIDAY Scan just above the west-northwest horizon about 30 minutes after sunset to spot Mercury. To its left by 1.2 degrees (the width of your little finger at arm's length) is much fainter Mars. Binoculars will help. The Moon occults (covers) the 4.5-magnitude star Xi Ophiuchi for parts of eastern and central North America late tonight. The star's reappearance from behind the Moon's dark limb can be seen in a telescope at 1:53 a.m. EDT Saturday morning from Montreal and central Massachusetts, 1:38 a.m. EDT from Toronto, 1:36 a.m. EDT from Washington, D.C., and 12:12 a.m. CDT from Chicago. MAY 20 -- SATURDAY "First star I see tonight...." The brightest star high in the east as twilight descends is Arcturus, shining pale yellow-gold. The brightest star low in the northeast is Vega, pale blue-white. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This Week's Planet Roundup MERCURY (about magnitude -1) emerges into evening twilight view late this week, just above the west-northwest horizon. VENUS, JUPITER, and SATURN are hidden in the glare of the Sun. Which is too bad! Venus and Jupiter have a close conjunction, less than 1 arcminute apart, on the 17th. MARS (magnitude +1.5) is just above the west-northwest horizon during evening twilight. It's much fainter and harder to see than Mercury, which is in the same vicinity late in the week. Mars and Mercury appear closest on May 18th. Try using binoculars about 30 minutes after sunset. URANUS and NEPTUNE (magnitudes 6 and 8 in Capricornus) are in the southeast before dawn. PLUTO (magnitude 14 in Ophiuchus) is in the southeast during early-morning hours. (All descriptions that relate to the horizon or zenith -- including the words up, down, right, and left -- are written for the world's midnorthern latitudes. Descriptions that also depend on longitude are for North America. Eastern Daylight Time, EDT, equals Universal Time minus 4 hours.) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In response to numerous requests, and in cooperation with the Astronomical League (http://www.astroleague.org/) and the American Association of Amateur Astronomers (http://www.corvus.com/), S&T's Weekly News Bulletin and Sky at a Glance are available via electronic mailing list too. For a free subscription, send e-mail to join@astromax.com and put the word "join" on the first line of the body of the message. To unsubscribe, send e-mail to unjoin@astromax.com and put the word "unjoin" on the first line of the body of the message. If you should have any problems either subscribing to or unsubscribing from the list, send a message to list administrator John Wagoner at stargate@gte.net for assistance. Watch "Star Gazer" on PBS Television, and Keep Looking Up ® Home | Sky & Telescope | S&T Store News | Sights | Tips | Imaging | Resources © 2000 Sky Publishing Corp. All rights reserved. Please read our copyright and permissions policy.