May Night Sky
Sky events for this month & objects for observation can be found here.
Courtesy of Orion Telescopes & Binoculars
Click to enlarge. A larger printable version of this chart can also be found here.
PLANETS FOR MAY
In the chart above for mid-May, the colored arrows show the motion of each planet and the Sun during the month. The Moon is plotted for the evening dates in the Americas when it's waxing (right side Illuminated) or full, and for the morning dates when it's waning (left side illuminated). Sky & Telescope.
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MERCURY'S BIG MONTH
Mercury is generally a difficult planet to spot due to its nearness to the Sun in the sky and nearness to the horizon at sunrise or sunset. May presents the best time this year to see Mercury, shining away in the evening twilight near its Solar System neighbor, mag. –3.8 Venus. It’s a difficult call to pick a date which is the best time to see the planet. A classic balance between brightness and solar separation takes place throughout the month, Mercury appearing bright at the start of May when it’s relatively near to the Sun, dimming mid-month when it’s farthest from the Sun. While Mercury gets closer to the Earth in its orbit around the Sun, and bigger in a telescope, it presents less of its illuminated hemisphere: 
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On 1 May, Mercury shines at mag. –1.0 and sets 90 minutes after the Sun. Venus will be 5˚ away on this date. From the UK it’s visible below Mercury.
On 3 May, Mercury drifts 2.3˚ south of the Pleiades open cluster, M45. Shining at mag. –0.8 on this date, Mercury should be seen quite clearly through the evening twilight. The Pleiades may not fare so well though! On 13 May, Mercury will have dimmed to mag. +0.2 but should be easy to spot as it lies 2.7˚ to the north of a 3%-lit waxing crescent Moon. Mercury sets an impressive 135 minutes after the Sun on this date. Greatest eastern elongation occurs on 17 May when Mercury will be at mag. +0.6. After this the planet dims but remains visible thanks to a re-approach of Venus. On 28 May, mag. +2.2 Mercury sits just 32 arcminutes from bright Venus and sets 90 minutes after the Sun. On 31 May, little Mercury will be well on its way back towards the Sun, setting just 70 minutes after sunset. At mag. +2.9 it will be a lot harder to see than earlier in the month. Pete Lawrence Sky at Night and Sky & Telescope |
TOTAL LUNAR ECLIPSE
A brief total eclipse of the full moon occurs on the morning of May 26th, when the moon is also at perigee - closest to the Earth in its elliptical orbit, and therefore appears larger than average - AKA a "supermoon." A lunar eclipse results from the geometry of the the Moon crossing the ecliptic when it is directly opposite the Sun, and enters the Earth's shadow. The Moon will be located low in the southwest, so be sure to view from a location with an open view in that direction. Sunlight refracted by the Earth's atmosphere gives the Moon a distinctly cooper-red-brown appearance, depending on atmospheric conditions, while ozone can make the fuzzy edge of the umbral shadow bluish.
Dress warmly and use binoculars or a small telescope to view the event. And even though the totality is of relatively short duration, be alert for any bright flashes you might see while the Moon is fully eclipsed - these are the tell-tail signs for a meteor impact on the surface:
A brief total eclipse of the full moon occurs on the morning of May 26th, when the moon is also at perigee - closest to the Earth in its elliptical orbit, and therefore appears larger than average - AKA a "supermoon." A lunar eclipse results from the geometry of the the Moon crossing the ecliptic when it is directly opposite the Sun, and enters the Earth's shadow. The Moon will be located low in the southwest, so be sure to view from a location with an open view in that direction. Sunlight refracted by the Earth's atmosphere gives the Moon a distinctly cooper-red-brown appearance, depending on atmospheric conditions, while ozone can make the fuzzy edge of the umbral shadow bluish.
Dress warmly and use binoculars or a small telescope to view the event. And even though the totality is of relatively short duration, be alert for any bright flashes you might see while the Moon is fully eclipsed - these are the tell-tail signs for a meteor impact on the surface:
