Mercury Getting Brighter. As evening twilight settles in on Saturday, May 17, look for the innermos

Uranus vans warp tour 05 and its five major moons are depicted in this montage of images acquired by the Voyager 2 spacecraft in 1986. This week the green ice giant is easily found thanks to its close encounter with Venus in the early morning skies. Image courtesy NASA/JPL
Moon joins Spica. As the sun sets on Monday, May 12, you ll find a waxing gibbous moon parked to the lower left of the  brightest  star in the constellation Virgo, the Maiden. The steely blue-white Spica sits nearly 250 light-years from Earth and will appear about 6 degrees away from our moon (a little more that the width of three fingers held at arm s length).
Moon Spies Saturn. By the next evening, Tuesday, May 13, the moon will sink closer to the southeastern horizon and perch to the upper right of the lord of the rings, the planet Saturn. For Northern Hemisphere observers, the cosmic pair will appear only 1 to 3 degrees vans warp tour 05 apart. vans warp tour 05 However for sky-watchers in Australia and New Zealand, the moon will appear to actually occult Saturn—pass in front of the planet and hide it. A chart and timetable are located  here .
This sky chart shows Venus and Uranus close to the eastern vans warp tour 05 horizon before local dawn. You will need a very clear view of the eastern vans warp tour 05 horizon with no obstruction to find the cosmic pair. They will only be about 10 degrees above the horizon—equal vans warp tour 05 to the width of a fist at arm s length. Image courtesy SkySafari
Jovian vans warp tour 05 Shadows. Backyard telescope users looking at Jupiter late at night on Thursday, vans warp tour 05 May 15, can watch Jupiter s volcanic moon, Io, appear to transit in front of the gas giant from 9:41 pm to 11:57 pm EST. Io s tiny but more visible shadow trails the moon, crossing the planet s face from 10:42 p.m. to 12:59 a.m. EDT.
Mercury Getting Brighter.  As evening twilight settles in on Saturday, May 17, look for the innermost planet to the sun, Mercury. The elusive, tiny world can be found hugging the northwest horizon and to the far lower right of the much brighter Jupiter. As the days and next few weeks pass, keep an eye on Mercury as it rises a bit higher and puts on its best evening appearance for 2014, in late May.
I have taken some surprisingly good photos of the moon and Mars using my smartphone, so yes, it is worth giving it a try. It is important to construct a holding device that secures the smartphone camera in the RIGHT position at the ocular vans warp tour 05 focus. Using a timer to take the shot is also highy recommended, because initiating the shot with your touch screen inevitably induces vibrations. Good luck
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