May promises to be exciting month for stargazers at Taghum
By Nelson Daily Staff
Wayne the Star Guy is back to bring the stars closer to earth at part of the Taghum Hall Starry Night Astronomy Program located 10 kilometers west of Nelson on the edge of Kootenay River.
Stargazers lose Jupiter by the middle of May but soon get good views of Saturn and it’s moons. The Solar Sunday Program is starting up this month.
Those interested in seeing the nearest star through the hydrogen alpha telescope or the filtered eight-inch Newtonian scope, have a chance.
Here’s the lineup for May.
Sunday May 5th – Solar Sunday at Taghum Hall. See the Sun safely through the two solar filtered telescopes. Viewing starts at noon and goes until around 2 p.m.
Sunday May 5th to Monday May 6th – The Eta Aquarid meteor shower peaks. There will be no Moon to wash out the meteors so you should be able to see up to 55 meteors per hour. The best hours are 2-4 a.m. These meteors are debris left by Haley’s comet.
Thursday May 9th – Annular solar eclipse. It will be visible in western Australia but not in North America. Book your flight now.
Friday May 9th – Starry Night Astronomy Program. We should start viewing around 8:45pm
Sunday May 12th – There will be a conjunction of the crescent Moon and Jupiter, low in the west.
Sunday May 19th – Solar Sunday at Taghum Hall, noon to 2 p.m.
Wednesday May 22nd – The Moon will between the bright star Spica and Saturn
Friday May 24th – There will be a penumbral Lunar eclipse but it will be too shallow to notice any dimming of the Moon. It starts at 11:55 p.m.
Saturday May 25th – Tonight’s full Moon is known as the “flower Moon”
Sunday May 26th and Monday May 27th There will be a tight triple conjunction of Mercury, Venus and Jupiter, shortly after sunset. You will need to find a low western horizon, as the planets will be very low in the west. This would make a good photo.
