• Mars dominates the evening sky, lights at the roundabout dominate below.
  • Mark Lovewell

Where Art Thou Milky Way?

Moon and Jupiter

Tomorrow night the crescent moon and Jupiter appear together as a pair, high in the western sky after sunset. The two are in the zodiacal constellation Gemini, a constellation we usually associate with winter.

Tomorrow the moon is five days from the New Moon phase. Note that the moon is tilted, turned on its side and the cusps point up.

Jupiter is appearing more and more westerly as we move through the seasons. Astronomers estimate that Jupiter is 511 million miles away. A month ago, Jupiter was 474 million miles away.

Mars

Mars continues to dominate our evening sky. After sunset, Mars appears low in the eastern sky, but by midnight it is high in the southern sky. Mars is in the constellation Virgo, one of the more southern zodiacal constellations, and not far from the bright star Spica. Mars is just 59 million miles away and on Thursday night the gibbous moon will appears near Mars.

Milky Way

This is not a good time of year to be looking for the Milky Way, a faint wide band of billions of stars that extends across the sky. You have to go outside well after midnight to find the Milky Way, rising in the east.

 

Sunrise and Sunset
Day Sunrise Sunset
Fri., May 2 5:37 7:40
Sat., May 3 5:36 7:41
Sun., May 4 5:34 7:42
Mon., May 5 5:33 7:43
Tues., May 6 5:32 7:44
Wed., May 7 5:31 7:45
Thurs., May 8 5:30 7:46
Fri., May 9 5:28 7:47
Temperatures and Precipitations
Day Max (Fº) Min (Fº) Inches
April 25 59 43 0.00
April 26 59 43 0.00
April 27 50 41 0.08
April 28 50 38 T
April 29 56 44 0.00
April 30 49 42 T
May 1 56 44 0.72

 

Water temperature in Edgartown harbor: 53º F

Comments

Comment policy »

YOU CAN HELP SUPPORT LOCAL NEWS

Subscribe or become a Friend of the Vineyard Gazette and receive our free newsletters and free and discounted tickets to Gazette events along with our award-winning news and photography.