5 Upcoming Celestial Events in May 2024

May 6-7: Eta Aquarids Meteor Shower

The Eta Aquarids meteor shower results from space debris from the popular celestial delight Halley's Comet. It can produce up to 60 meteors per hour at its peak. The shower runs annually from April 19 to May 28, and peaks on the night of May 6 and the morning of May 7.

May 8: New Moon

The Moon will be located on the same side of the Earth as the Sun and will not be visible in the night sky. This phase occurs at 03:23 UTC. This is the best time of the month to observe faint objects such as galaxies because there is no moonlight.

May 9: Mercury at Greatest Western Elongation

The planet Mercury reaches its greatest western elongation of 26.4 degrees from the Sun. This is the best time to view Mercury since it will be at its highest point above the horizon in the morning sky.

May 10: Eta Lyrid Meteor Shower

The Eta Lyrid meteor shower is relatively weak but interesting to astronomers because of its possible relation to Comet C/1983 H1 IRAS-Araki-Alcock. The comet was last seen in 1983 and passed the Earth at a distance of 5,000,000 km, which is the closest a comet has approached in the last 200 years.

May 23: Full Moon

The Moon will be located on the opposite side of the Earth as the Sun and its face will be fully illuminated. This phase occurs at 13:55 UTC. Early Native American tribes knew this full moon as the Flower Moon because this was the time of year when spring flowers appeared in abundance.