Friday night’s first quarter moon appears near the bright star Regulus, in the zodiacal constellation Leo. The two are close to overhead soon after sunset. Regulus is the principal and brightest star in the constellation. The star is so far away, it takes 77 years for light to reach us. Were Regulus to be magically extinguished right now, it would take 77 years for us to discover it was turned off.
Planet watchers will have a lot more fun Saturday night when the gibbous moon appears side by side with the bright planet Jupiter. You’ll see the two high in the southeastern sky after sunset.
Jupiter is 449 million miles away, while the moon is less than a quarter million miles away. It takes roughly 40 minutes for the light of Jupiter to reach us. When it comes to the speed of light, the moon is only 1.3 seconds away.
The two planets, Mars and Saturn, are low in the southern sky throughout the evening. They both rise in the east a short time after sunset. Mars is a brilliant red. Mars is to the right of the yellowish colored Saturn. The two are in the zodiacal constellation Scorpius.
If you haven’t seen Mars in a while, now is the time to look. Mars is close to the Earth, closer than it has been in 11 years. There is nothing brighter in the Southern sky.
| Day | Sunrise | Sunset |
|---|---|---|
| Fri., May 13 | 5:24 | 7:51 |
| Sat., May 14 | 5:23 | 7:53 |
| Sun., May 15 | 5:22 | 7:54 |
| Mon., May 16 | 5:21 | 7:55 |
| Tues., May 17 | 5:20 | 7:56 |
| Wed., May 18 | 5:19 | 7:56 |
| Thurs., May 19 | 5:18 | 7:57 |
| Fri., May 20 | 5:17 | 7:58 |
| Day | Max (Fº) | Min (Fº) | Inches |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 6 | 49 | 45 | 0.57 |
| May 7 | 53 | 46 | 0.02 |
| May 8 | 57 | 46 | 0.02 |
| May 9 | 59 | 42 | 0.02 |
| May 10 | 65 | 38 | 0.00 |
| May 11 | 63 | 48 | 0.00 |
| May 12 | 67 | 42 | 0.00 |
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