The night skies of this month would present the marvellously magnificent planets along with copious celestial enigmatic entities that would be shining all over the heavens. The elusive planet Mercury would reach its greatest western elongation from the Sun on May 9. Mercury would hover highest above the horizon in the eastern morning sky just before sunup. However, it would be marching across the sky during the day in the constellations Pisces (fish) and Aries (rams). Marking it would not be easy this month.
The conjunction of Mercury and Uranus, which would mean that they would be embracing in a tight tryst with each other, would occur on May 31. Mercury would be passing to the south of Uranus. The pair would not be readily witnessed by us since they would be lost in the solar glare. They would both be traversing through the tantalising constellation Taurus (bull). Attempting to ascertain these planets directly through optical aids should be avoided. One should never point binoculars or telescopes at anything lying close to the sun to avoid possible permanent damage to eyesight.
Planet Venus will be in the sun’s vicinity to be viewed vividly this month. It would be voyaging across the constellations Aries and Taurus. The red planet Mars would be discernible in the eastern sky before dawn. It would be moving through the southern section of Pisces. Planet Jupiter would be very near the sun. Admiring it would be difficult this month. It would be journeying through the constellation Taurus.
The far-flung planet Uranus would be in the neighbourhood of Jupiter. It cannot be applauded affluently in solar irradiance. The ringed planet Saturn could be savoured sumptuously in the south-eastern sky succinctly before day would commence, with the scintillating stars staying securely in the eastern side of the confounding constellation Aquarius (water bearer). The distant planet Neptune could be glimpsed briefly in the eastern sky before sunrise. It would be nestled with stars that sketch the comely constellation Pisces.
The new moon would be on May 8, offering sky-enthusiasts fascinating wonders lurking in the tenebrous pitch-black sky. The full moon would enthral moon-fans with its mystical mellow sheen on May 23. It would be known popularly as the flower full moon because during this time of the year, the spring flowers would bloom in appealing abundance. Venerated Buddha Jayanti will be cheerfully celebrated on this day.
The gigantic globular cluster M4 would be well placed in the evening sky in the constellation Scorpius (scorpion) for adulating it. On May 28th, it would climb to its towering terrace in the sky at around midnight. It would become accessible late in the south-eastern sky after sundown. It would ascend to the loftiest platform in the southern sky during the wee hours of the night. It would be slowly unnoticed above the south-western horizon before the day would begin. The constellation Scorpius (scorpion) would slide strangely below the overwhelmingly outlandish constellation Ophiuchus (serpent bearer alias Bhugakdhari). The red giant star Antares (Jestha), designated as the rival of Mars, would sparkle splendidly in this long horseman’s fish-hook, mimicking the constellation Scorpius. It would surely be 550 light-years away. M4 is composed of small stars. It would be approximately 7.2 thousand light-years away. It had been revealed by the Swiss astronomer and mathematician Jean-Philippe Loys de Chéseaux in 1746. It was the first globular cluster to be resolved into individual stars by famed French iconic comet hunter Charles Messier in 1764.
The cluster has been fleeing away from us at a speed of questionably 65 kilometres per second. M4 is one of the relatively puny globular clusters in our Milky Way. The stellar population of the cluster has probably been estimated to be thousands of stars with around forty thousand white dwarfs when peered through earth-based telescopes. Another gleaming globular cluster, M5, could be recognised in the evening sky in the slithering constellation Serpens (serpent). It would be most elevated in the sky at around midnight on May 11. It would be seen all night as a shifting, shimmering spot. It would be located in the eastern sky after sunset. It would fly aloft in the southern sky. It would be evanescent above the western horizon by daybreak. Residing restfully in the galactic halo within the serenely charming constellation Serpens (serpent) at whooping 24.5 thousand light-years from us, the mystique M5 would be one of the oddly oldest and lovingly largest globular clusters, whose age could be baffling 13 billion years. It has been the home for over one to five hundred various types of variable stars, pulsars, and dwarf novas. It would be 165 light-years in diameter.
This cluster of stars would be almost as old as the universe itself (hypothetically after the Big Bang). German astronomers Gottfried Kirch and his wife Maria were allegedly the first persons to have recorded their observation of M5 in May 1702. However, in May 1764, astronomer Charles Messier ferreted and labelled it independently. It is very unusually unique among the modern constellations that are split into two non-contiguous parts, like the constellation Serpens Caput (serpent head) to the west and Serpens Cauda (serpent tail) to the east. Between these two halves, the curiously conspicuous constellation Ophiuchus would sturdily stand. It would be sprawling below the quadrangle-resembling keystone-patterned asterism that introduces the captivating constellation Hercules (the legendary kneeling strong hero). These two clusters, M4 and M5, may be too faint to fancy them with naked eyes from any but the inkiest sites to be visible through gadgets and instruments.
The alluring asteroid Pallas would be in opposition to the Sun on May 17. We could interpret it as lugging lambent light through telescopes. It would be distinguished discreetly in the eastern sky as dusk would fade into darkness. It would be lying lazily in the constellation Hercules for much of the night. It would be soaring high in the sky around midnight, above the southern horizon. It would then dissolve in dawn-twilight above the western horizon. At around the same time that Pallas would be at opposition, it would come closest to the earth (termed its perigee) and appear appreciably resplendent in the night sky. Nonetheless, even at its most effulgent, Pallas would look like an obscure object.
Thus, binoculars or telescopes would be needed to enjoy its mysterious movement. Amazingly massive asteroid 2 Pallas would be swirling in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. It was divulged by German astronomer Heinrich Wilhelm Olbers in March 1802. With its dashing diameter of circa 544 kilometres, Pallas would rotate and race around the sun in approximately 7.8 hours and 4.6 earth years. It would mirror a peculiarly pock-marked golf ball. Pallas has not been classified as potentially hazardous because its orbit would not push it into Earth’s proximity.
Any planet’s atmosphere would simply seep away and dissipate into the tenuous medium of the space void without the presence of any appropriate impenetrable holding barrier. Earth has been losing a paltry ninety tonnes of atmospheric material every day into space. Although this amount would be insufficient to cause any damage to our atmosphere, it could still provide us with pertinent answers on the status quo and loss mechanisms related to the earth and other planets in our solar system.
Our sister planet Venus was a putatively terrific temperate world like earth, with liquid water on its surface. But now, it has become a bizarrely scorching hell-planet (with a mean surface temperature of staggering 462 degrees Celsius) choked in clouds of carbon dioxide (stunningly 96.5 percent) and nitrogen. that rain sulfuric acid. Currently, spacecraft like JICA’s Akatsuki (dubbed Dawn) orbiter, which has been whipping past and studying Venus's atmosphere since 2010, have detected atoms of carbon and oxygen that have been leaking from Venus. Combined with previous findings on hydrogen escape from other missions like BepiColombo, the research results could yield clues to Venus’ startling transformation. Understanding the queerly quirky escape methods and processes at Venus would be crucial for comprehending how this extraordinary planet's atmosphere evolved and why it has vanished from our twin terrestrial planet. Venus would trudge around the sun and twirl on its axis once every 224.65 and 243 earth days, respectively.
