Dining & Nightlife | Astronomy

On the 17th of May, 1969, the Russian Venus atmospheric probe Venera 6 arrived at Venus. Before being crushed by atmospheric pressure about 11 kilometers (7 miles) above the hot Venusian surface, it transmitted data showing that the planet’s atmosphere consisted of 93 to 97 percent carbon dioxide, 2 to 5 percent nitrogen, and less than 4 percent oxygen. Talk about greenhouse gases and runaway global warming!
Just four years later, on May 26th, the first American space station, Skylab, was launched. It was manned for 171 days by three crews. In 1974, it was abandoned. Skylab burned up on reentering the atmosphere in 1979. Now we have the International Space Station, which has been in operation for some time and is still in active use. The shuttle, however, looks like it may be scuttled in the not-to-distant future.
Throughout May, Jupiter will be a morning planet that rises an hour or so after midnight and will be one of the brightest objects in the sky just before sunrise. Venus is also a bright “morning star” this May; look for it south of the Moon on the 21st about an hour before sunrise. Mercury and Mars can also be observed before sunrise throughout May this year.
Saturn continues to be an evening planet with nearly edge-on rings. Look for this notable object north of the first quarter Moon in the early evening on the 20th. If the sky is clear, you can also take a gander at faint and distant Pluto. Although not a “naked eye” object, you are welcome to visit the Custer Institute where you can observe this (former) planet—and even see it moving across background stars—using our sensitive imaging gear.
There is a meteor shower in May—the Eta Aquarids. This shower will peak in the wee hours before dawn on the 5th and 6th. Look for meteors in an east-northeast direction after the Moon sets. If you are lucky, you may catch ten to twenty meteors in an hour of sky watching.
The days continue to lengthen as summer approaches, gaining a little over fourteen minutes of daylight every week.

Jeffrey Owen Katz, Ph.D., volunteers as the Observatory and Research Director of the Custer Institute. You can contact him at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or meet him any Saturday evening at the observatory. For detailed information about upcoming events, see the events calendar in this magazine or visit http://custerobservatory.org.