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Celestial
Events Calendar
May
Roman goddess of honor and reverence, Maiesta, wife of Vulcan, the Roman god
of destructive fire
Maia
the eldest of the Pleiades, the seven daughters of Atlas and Pleione, mother
of Mercury
Saturday, May 1, 2004:
3 AM CDT Middle of the eclipse season, happens every 5.7
months, lasts about a month, where the Sun is at the point in the sky where its
apparent orbit intersects with the Moons orbit
Monday, May 3, 2004:
12 AM CDT Venus is at its brightest at magnitude 4.5, as
Venus catches up with Earth on the same side of the Sun
Tuesday, May 4, 2004:
12 AM CDT Mercury is at aphelion, the point in its orbit
where it is furthest from the Sun ~ 43.4 million miles
3:34 PM CDT Full Moon, milk or planting moon
3:30 PM CDT Total eclipse of the Moon, visible from Africa
and the Indian Ocean
Wednesday, May 5, 2004:
Eta Aquarid meteor shower, active April 19 May 28, ZHR =
60 meteors per hour
8 AM CDT Jupiter is stationary in right ascension, ceases
it apparent westward (retrograde) motion through the stars and resumes its
normal prograde (eastward) from the head to the tail of Leo
8 AM CDT Neptune is at west quadrature, it is 90o
from the Sun in the morning sky and is moving further away
Thursday, May 6, 2004:
12 AM CDT The Moon is at perigee, the point in its orbit
where it is closest to the Earth ~ 226,000 miles
12 PM CDT Comet C/2001 Q4 NEAT (Near Earth Asteroid
Tracking program) is nearest the Earth, making a steep climb perpendicular to
and up through the plane of the Solar System, maybe magnitude = 0, at 0.32 AU ~
30 million miles, appears in Canis Major
Friday, May 7, 2004:
1 PM CDT Mars is at its greatest declination north of the
celestial equator, 24.7o, (when the Sun is in this position it is called
the summer solstice)
Sunday, May 9, 2004:
Epsilon Arietid radio meteor shower, active April 24 May
27, low rate
Tuesday, May 11, 2004:
6:05 AM CDT Last Quarter Moon
Thursday, May 13, 2004:
12 PM CDT The Sun leaves the constellation of Aries the Ram
and enters Taurus the Bull
2 PM CDT The midpoint between sunrise and sunset is 3.67
minutes before noon, a maximum for this cycle
Friday, May 14, 2004:
3 PM CDT Mercury is at its greatest elongation west, 26o,
it rises about an hour before the Sun
Saturday, May 15, 2004:
7 PM CDT Comet C/2001 Q4 NEAT is at perihelion, its
closest approach to the Sun ~ 0.96 AU, 89 million miles
Sunday, May 16, 2004:
May Arietid radio meteor shower Active May 4 June 6, low
rate
Texas Star Party begins
Monday, May 17, 2004:
6 AM CDT Neptune is stationary is right ascension, it
ceases it normal eastward prograde motion and begins westward retrograde motion
through Aquarius
1 PM CDT The Moon is at its ascending node, moving through
the plane of the Earths orbit (ecliptic) and moving northeast
Tuesday 18, 2004:
7 PM CDT Venus is stationary in right ascension, it ceases
its normal eastward prograde motion and begins its westward retrograde motion
through Taurus.
11:53 PM CDT New Moon, the beginning of
lunation cycle 1007
Wednesday, 19, 2004:
Saggitarid meteor shower Active April 15 July 15, ZHR =
5 meteors/hour
3 AM CDT Comet C/2002 T7 LINEAR, nearest Earth, maybe
magnitude 0
Thursday, May 20, 2004:
Omicron Cetid radio meteor shower Active May 5 June 2,
medium rate
12 PM CDT The Sun leaves the astrological sign of Taurus
and enters the astrological sign of Gemini
Friday, May 21, 2004:
7 AM CDT The Moon is at apogee, the point in its orbit
where it is furthest from the Earth ~ 255,000 miles
Sunday, May 23, 2004:
Texas Star Party ends
Tuesday, May 25, 2004:
12 AM CDT Mars is 1.6o north of Saturn in the
evening sky
Thursday, May 27, 2004:
2:57 AM CDT First Quarter Moon
7 PM CDT Uranus is at west quadrature
Friday, May 28, 2004:
61st meeting of the North Houston Astronomy Club
Monday, May 31, 2004:
Jupiter is at east quadrature, it is 90o from and
sets after the Sun in the evening sky