Mercury's surprise in the May sky

In the May sky, Venus gives the starring role in the evening sky to make room for Mercury : normally difficult to see, the planet closest to the Sun at the end of the month will reach the conditions of best evening observability of the year. "Just on May 31, Mercury sets well 1 hour and 54 minutes after the Sun. They are the best conditions of the current year to observe it in the light of twilight on the western horizon", notes the Italian amateur astronomers union (Uai).

Waiting for Mercury, for the whole month Mars , Jupiter and Saturnthey will continue to be the protagonists of the second part of the night and the couple Jupiter-Saturn will also greet in the morning. Another conjunction are to be observed is that of May 22 between Mercury and Venus , which meet on the western horizon. Do not miss the spectacular twilight of May 24 , when the crescent moon crescent will be accompanied by Mercury and Venus towards the horizon in the North-West.

This year there will also be optimal conditions for observing the falling stars produced by the swarm of the Eta Aquarids , generated by the remains of Halley's comet. In our latitudes it is usually not easy to observe them, but "this year we will be lucky because, even if it will be full moon on May 7th , we will be able to observe them favorably, since we will see them rise above the horizon just when the Moon turns at sunset, that is from 2 in the morning onwards, "notes Paolo Volpini of the Uai.

Instead, we will have to wait for the second half of May to return to greet, in the evening, the passage of the Space Station over Italy, while the processions of the Spacelink Starlink satellites , generally observable with the naked eye or at certain times of the night, may also be visible. at morning.