Sky & Telescope - May 2019 - 44

MAY 2019 OBSERVING
Planetary Almanac

PLANET VISIBILITY Mercury: visible at dusk after the 29th * Venus: visible at dawn all
month * Mars: visible at dusk, sets mid-evening * Jupiter: rises before midnight, visible until
dawn * Saturn: rises near midnight, visible until dawn

Mercury

May 1

21

11

May Sun & Planets

31

Venus

Date

Declination

Elongation

Magnitude

Diameter

Illumination

Distance

1

2h

30.7m

+14° 50′

-

-26.8

31′ 45″

-

1.007

31

4h

29.3m

+21° 48′

-

-26.8

31′ 33″

-

1.014

1

1h

16.3m

+5° 22′

21° Mo

-0.4

5.8″

75%

1.149

11

2h 23.6m

+12° 45′

12° Mo

-1.0

5.3″

90%

1.271

21

3h 45.8m

+20° 07′

1° Mo

-2.4

5.1″

100%

1.323

31

5h 17.1m

+24° 46′

11° Ev

-1.2

5.4″

89%

1.245

1

0h

47.7m

+3° 19′

28° Mo

-3.8

11.5″

88%

1.445

11

1h 32.8m

+7° 55′

25° Mo

-3.8

11.2″

90%

1.496

21

2h 18.9m

+12° 15′

23° Mo

-3.8

10.8″

92%

1.542

31

3h 06.4m

+16° 08′

20° Mo

-3.8

10.5″

94%

1.584

1

5h

15.8m

+24° 07′

40° Ev

+1.6

4.2″

96%

2.239

16

5h

58.5m

+24° 34′

35° Ev

+1.7

4.0″

97%

2.336

31

6h 40.9m

+24° 16′

30° Ev

+1.8

3.9″

97%

2.422

1

17h 31.6m

-22° 39′

137° Mo

-2.5

43.5″

100%

4.535

31

17h 19.0m

-22° 30′

168° Mo

-2.6

45.8″

100%

4.306

1

19h

27.4m

-21° 31′

110° Mo

+0.5

17.2″

100%

9.668

31

19h

24.2m

-21° 39′

140° Mo

+0.3

17.9″

100%

9.260

Uranus

16

2h

06.0m

+12° 15′

21° Mo

+5.9

3.4″

100%

20.787

Neptune

16

23h 17.8m

-5° 37′

67° Mo

+7.9

2.3″

100%

30.325

Sun

1

16

31

Mercury

Mars

1

16

31

Jupiter

Venus

Mars

16

Jupiter
Saturn

Saturn
16
Uranus

Neptune

The table above gives each object's right ascension and declination (equinox 2000.0) at 0h Universal Time on selected dates,
and its elongation from the Sun in the morning (Mo) or evening (Ev) sky. Next are the visual magnitude and equatorial diameter.
(Saturn's ring extent is 2.27 times its equatorial diameter.) Last are the percentage of a planet's disk illuminated by the Sun and
the distance from Earth in astronomical units. (Based on the mean Earth-Sun distance, 1 a.u. is 149,597,871 kilometers, or
92,955,807 international miles.) For other dates, see skyandtelescope.com/almanac.

10"

PLANET DISKS have south up, to match the
view in many telescopes. Blue ticks indicate the
pole currently tilted toward Earth.
2h

+40°

Right Ascension

0h

22h

20h

18h

16h

14h
12h
RIGHT ASCENSION

Vega

+30°

CYGNUS

Mercury

ARIES

PEGASUS

PISCES

-20°
-30°
- 40°

May
18 -19
23

26

Saturn

CAPRICORNUS
Fomalhaut

8 am

6 am

Jupiter
Antares

SAGITTARIUS

10 am

+30°

Mars

11

CANCER

+10°
Betelgeuse
Procyon

0°

EQUATOR

Neptune

CETUS

4 am

LIBRA

E

PT
CLI

SCO RPI U S

2 am

Midnight

IC

Rigel -10°

Spica
CORVUS

ORION
Sirius

-20°

H Y D R A
CANIS
MAJOR

LOCAL TIME OF TRANSIT
10 pm
8 pm
6 pm

4 pm

-30°
2 pm

The Sun and planets are positioned for mid-May; the colored arrows show the motion of each during the month. The Moon is plotted for evening dates in the Americas when it's waxing (right side
illuminated) or full, and for morning dates when it's waning (left side). "Local time of transit" tells when (in Local Mean Time) objects cross the meridian - that is, when they appear due south and at
their highest - at mid-month. Transits occur an hour later on the 1st, and an hour earlier at month's end.

44

M AY 2 0 1 9 * S K Y & T E L E S C O P E

4h

TA U R U S

14

VIRGO

AQUARI US

DECLINATION

-10°

AURIGA

Regulus

OPHIUCHUS

29

6h
GEMINI

8

AQUI LA

Venus

0°

8h
Castor
Pollux

LEO

Arcturus

HERCULES

Uranus

+10°

10h

BOÖTES

- 40°
http://www.skyandtelescope.com/almanac
Sky & Telescope - May 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Sky & Telescope - May 2019
