What's in the Sky: May 2026

What's in the Sky​ is a monthly newsletter showcasing various objects and events visible in the sky for the upcoming month. It is written by FoGAP member Jim White for local newspapers.

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Note: Not all objects discussed may be visible during Observatory shows. Object visibility depends on location in the sky, rise and set times, and weather. Some objects may only be viewable during the early morning.

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Welcome to May. As the season progresses, warmer nights make for a more pleasant time stargazing. On the other hand, you need to stay up later to enjoy dark skies. But they are worth it!

Jupiter still shines bright in May skies, located in the southwestern evening sky. This is the last good month to view Jupiter. Venus is also visible for the entire month, low in the west after sunset. Watch the two planets during May, and you’ll see that they are growing closer together, as we see them. In early June they will be very close to each other.

Little Mercury joins the other two in late May. Look for Mercury very low in the west after sunset. You will need a good view of the low western horizon. On May 31, the three planets will be “lined up”, which should be a nice sight.

With Artemis II’s successful trip around our Moon, I thought I’d give Earth’s natural satellite some space this month. A few lunar facts:

• The Moon is, on average, 238,000 miles from Earth. Far enough that it takes astronauts several days to get there.
  
• The Moon is 2,159 miles in diameter.
• The Moon takes 27.3 days to orbit our planet one time. And, it also takes 27.3 days for it to spin on its axis. So, we only see one side of the Moon. It is “tidally locked” with Earth.
• There is no “dark side” of the Moon! I saw a video labeled as such recently. The far side of the Moon, the one we don’t see, gets as much light as the near side as it orbits the Earth.
• Large, flat areas of the Moon are basaltic plains, but are named Mare, Latin for “seas”. Before telescopes, people thought those darker, smoother parts of the Moon looked like seas. Hence names such as Mare Crisium (Sea of crises) or Mare Tranquillitatis, the Sea of Tranquility. Apollo 11 landed at the Sea of Tranquility. Upon touchdown of Apollo 11, Neil Armstrong’s famous first words were “Tranquility Base here, the Eagle has landed”.
  
• When we see the Moon as a thin crescent, the dark part we see is dimly lit by “earthshine”. Reflected light from the bright Earth slightly illuminates the areas of the Moon that are not sunlit. Check it out with a pair of binoculars.
• There are names for all of the Full Moons in the year. Most know about the “Harvest Moon” in September. May’s Moon is called the Flower Moon. Others are January, Wolf; February, Snow; March, Worm; April, Pink; June, Strawberry; July, Buck; August, Sturgeon; October, Hunter’s Moon; November, Beaver; and December, Cold. There are other names too, but these are the ones I am familiar with.
• We have two full Moons in May this year, one on the 1st and one on the 31st. The second is known as a “Blue Moon”. But it was not always understood that way. Originally, a Blue Moon occurred when we had 4 full Moons in a season, such as spring. When that happened, the third full Moon of the season was called a Blue Moon. In the 1940s an article in Sky and Telescope magazine described a Blue Moon as the second full Moon in a month, and that description has stuck.

Enjoy May’s night skies!