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[Energetic music]

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[Preston Dyches]
What's Up for May?

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Planets strike a pose
with the Moon.

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We reach “peak Venus.”

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And what's different about the

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skies of the
Southern Hemisphere?

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On the morning of May 13th,
find the planet Saturn rising

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together with a third quarter 
or half full Moon.

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Find them together in the
southeast in the couple of

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hours before sunrise.

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Then on May 17th, a slim
crescent Moon rises about an

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hour before the Sun.

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And from much of
the U.S. and Canada,

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the planet Jupiter
will appear 

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very close to the Moon.

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But from some southern U.S.
states, you'll be able to

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observe Jupiter passing
behind the Moon 

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as the pair rise
in morning twilight.

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And from the western states,

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Jupiter will actually be
behind the Moon,

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in occultation,
as the pair rise.

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Jupiter will start to emerge
from behind the Moon

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as the Sun comes up.

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Now this will be
quite low in the sky, 

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so you'll need a clear
view of the horizon

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to observe it,

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and a pair of binoculars
will be a big help

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as the sky begins to brighten.

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Next, following sunset on May
22nd through the 24th,

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the Moon, Venus, and Mars form
a close grouping in the west.

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The Moon sits between the
two planets on the 23rd.

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Venus has been rising higher
in the sky each evening

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for the past few months.

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That begins to change in May

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as the brilliant planet reaches
its highest point in the western

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sky and starts trending
lower as we move into June.

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It'll disappear from
evening skies by late July,

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reappearing in the eastern sky
about a month later

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 as a morning object.

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There are some key differences
between the night sky in the

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Southern Hemisphere 
compared to the North.

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To start with, there's no
counterpart to the North Star

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for the Southern Hemisphere.

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The celestial poles
shift over time

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so eventually there
will be a “South Star,”

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but not at the moment.

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Next, from Orion

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to the teapot

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to the Gemini twins,

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the seasonal star patterns
northern observers

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are most familiar with 
appear flipped upside down

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when viewed in southern skies.

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The Moon also appears
the other way around,

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and its phases fill up
from left to right

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instead of right to left as

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they do in the north.

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Stars near the
north celestial pole

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including Ursa Major
and Cassiopeia

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 are below the horizon

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for much of the
Southern Hemisphere.

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But there are lots of dazzling
constellations easily visible

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only from the
Southern Hemisphere,

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like Crux,

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Carina,

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Tucana (the toucan,)

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and Centaurus (the centaur)!

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Next, while observers
in both hemispheres

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are well acquainted with the
brightest star in the sky, 

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Sirius,

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Southern Hemisphere sky
watchers get to enjoy

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 the second and third
brightest stars as well.

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The second brightest star,

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Canopus,

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appears about half
as bright as Sirius,

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but that's still quite bright,

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and the two stars are often seen
together in southern skies.

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The third brightest star in our
skies here on Earth

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is also the closest star
system to our own,

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Alpha Centauri.

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It's too far south in the
sky to be visible

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for most of the
Northern Hemisphere,

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but it's quite well known to
sky watchers to the south.

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Finally, there are
two entire galaxies

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easily observed
in the southern sky

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with the unaided eye.

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These are the
Magellanic Clouds,

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which are dwarf galaxies that
orbit our galaxy the Milky Way.

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They make for a stunning sight

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in night sky photos
from southern latitudes.

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And that's a really short list

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of some of the ways the skies

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above the Southern
Hemisphere are unique.

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Our view of the cosmos

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may be different from one part
of the planet to the other, 

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but the insights we gain from
looking up and exploring

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are something
we all can share.

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Here are the phases
of the Moon for May.

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Stay up to date

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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.