Skywatch Line for Wednesday and Thursday, May 1 and 2, 2024, written by Alan French

This is Dudley Observatory’s Skywatch Line for Wednesday and Thursday, May 1 and 2, 2024, written by Alan French.

The Sun rises at 5:49 A.M. on Wednesday and sets at 7:56 P.M. On Thursday it rises at 5:47 and sets at 7:58. This Thursday has just under 18 minutes more daylight than last Thursday.

The Moon, at last quarter and 44% in sunlight, rises at 2:39 A.M. on Wednesday morning. If you are up before sunrise, look for the Moon low toward the south southeast. On Thursday the Moon will rise at 3:10 A.M. and at 5:00 A.M. will be low in the southeast and 40% in sunlight. The Moon will reach new on Tuesday, May 7.

As May starts Mercury continues to move farther west of the Sun, reaching its greatest morning elongation, 26 degrees from the Sun, on May 9. Because of the shallow angle of the ecliptic with the horizon, Mercury never gets high above the horizon, and this is not a favorable appearance for those of us in the northern hemisphere. This is the best morning apparition of Mercury this year for those in the southern hemisphere.

Now Venus is too close to the Sun to be seen. The Sun is now just under 151 million kilometers away from Earth. Venus is in roughly the same direction, but 255 million kilometers from us.

Mars and Saturn are both in the morning sky. At 4:50 A.M. both are low in the east, with Mars, at magnitude +1.1, 5 degrees above the eastern horizon and Saturn, at magnitude +1.2, almost 10 degrees above the east southeastern horizon.

Jupiter, like Venus, is too close to the Sun to be seen. Jupiter will emerge from the solar glare and into the morning sky in June. Venus will emerge into the evening sky in July.

If you are out around 10 P.M., note that the Big Dipper, a well know asterism formed by the brighter stars in the Great Bear, Ursa Major, is very high in the northern sky, Ursa Major is a circumpolar constellation, slowly circling Polaris, the North Star, during the night, but never completely vanishing below our horizon. You’ll find the familiar “W” pattern of stars marking Cassiopeia, the Queen, approximately on the opposite side of Polaris, low toward the north in the evening. Cassiopeia is lowest around 11:30 P.M. but does not go below the horizon. It is also circumpolar at our latitude.