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 [Upbeat music]

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 [Preston] What's Up for May?

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 The planets of dusk and dawn,
 a lunar eclipse

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 and the Coma star cluster.

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 May begins and ends

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 with a couple of great
planet-spotting opportunities.

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 On May 2nd, look to the west
 about 45 minutes after sunset

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to find Mercury about 10 degrees
 off the horizon, accompanied

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 by a slim crescent moon.

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 Just to the south of the Moon

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 is brilliant red
 giant star Aldebaran,

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 which should be roughly
the same brightness as Mercury.

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 And by the way,
 this is the only chance

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 to spot a naked-eye planet in
the early evening until August.

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 Then in the last week of May,

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 you can watch each morning
 as Jupiter

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and Mars get increasingly close

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 in the pre-dawn sky.

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Their morning meetup culminates
 in a close conjunction

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that you can watch on the 28th
 through the 30th, where

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they'll be separated by barely
 the width of the full moon.

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 Should look incredible

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 with binoculars

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 where you can also
 see Jupiter's largest moons.

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 Sky watchers in

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 the Western Hemisphere
 can look forward

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 to a total lunar eclipse
 in mid-May.

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 The event will be visible
 across the Americas,

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 Europe and Africa.

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 Basically anywhere
 the Moon is visible

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above the horizon at the time.

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The visible part of the eclipse
 begins about 10:30 p.m. U.S.

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Eastern Time on May 15th, with
totality starting an hour later

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 and lasting for about
 an hour and a half.

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 Those in the Eastern U.S.

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 will see the eclipse

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 start with the Moon
 well above the horizon.

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 For the Central U.S.

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 the eclipse starts about
 an hour and a half

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 after dark, with the Moon
 relatively low in the sky.

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On the West coast of the U.S.,
 the Moon rises with totality

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beginning or already underway,

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 so you'll want to find
 a clear view

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 toward the southeast,
 if viewing from there.

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 Now, lunar eclipses

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 are the ones that are safe to
look at directly with your eyes

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 or binoculars or a telescope
 (unlike solar eclipses).

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The Moon takes on a dim, 

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reddish hue during
the period of totality.

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 Even though the Moon is fully
 immersed in Earth's shadow

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 at that time,

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 red wavelengths

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 of sunlight filter
 through Earth's atmosphere

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 and fall onto
 the Moon's surface.

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 One way to think of this
 is that a total lunar eclipse

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 shows us a projection
 of all the sunrises

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 and sunsets happening
 on the planet at that moment.

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 So check your local details
for this eclipse and find lots

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 more eclipse info from NASA
at the address on your screen.

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 Finally in May, 
 a really nice target

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 for binoculars:
 the Coma star cluster.

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 This loose, open star
cluster displays 40 or 50 stars

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 spread over a region of sky,
about three finger-widths wide.

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 The brightest stars
 in the cluster

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 form a distinctive
 Y shape, as seen here.

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The Coma star cluster is located

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 about 300 light years away,

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 making it the second closest
 open cluster to Earth

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 after the Hyades
 cluster in Taurus.

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 To find the Coma star cluster

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 look southward
 for the constellation Leo.

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It can be easiest to start from
the Big Dipper toward the north

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 and use the two "pointer
 stars" on the end,

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 which always point
 you toward Leo.

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 Once you've identified Leo,

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 the Coma star cluster

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is about 15 degrees to the east

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 of the triangle of stars

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 representing the lion's
 hindquarters.

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 It's relatively easy to find
 with binoculars, even under

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 light-polluted urban skies,
 as long as it's clear out.

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 So here's wishing you

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clear skies for finding the Coma

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 star cluster
 and any other wonders

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 you discover
 in the night sky in May.

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 Here are the phases

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 of the Moon for May.

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 Stay up to date
 with all of NASA's missions

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 to explore the solar system
 and beyond at nasa.gov.

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I'm Preston Dyches from NASA's
 Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

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 And that's
 What's Up for this month.

