The night sky in May is filled with exciting celestial events, such as the lunar occultation of Mars and the Aquariid meteor shower. The Aquariid meteor shower will even produce up to 50 meteors per hour!
The celestial phenomena in May are not only wonderful, but also closely connected! The "Saturn-Moon conjunction" will occur on Saturday, May 4. The next day, the 5th (Sunday), will be the rare "moon occultation of Mars". On the 6th (Monday), 50 stars in Aquarius (pronounced Eta Aquarius) can be seen per hour while the Eta meteor shower is at its peak. Then, the second "western elongation" of Mercury this year will be on Friday, May 10. In the early morning of the 13th (Monday), Mercury will be at its highest elevation in the east, which is the best time to observe Mercury. On the 31st of the month (Friday), "Saturn -Moon Conjunction " will appear again. For relevant celestial information, please refer to the Taipei Astronomical Museum website.The best viewing time for the two Saturn conjunctions with the moon in May is before sunrise on May 4. The Saturn and the waning moon are less than 2° apart in the eastern twilight, and after midnight on the 31st. Although the distance between Saturn and the moon is more than 6° in Taiwan, the observers in the southern cone region of South America can see the wonderful scene of “the moon occulting Saturn”!The "Moon occultation of Mars" on May 5 will be from 10:38 to 11:57 am. Because it’s during the daytime, it can only be observed with an astronomical telescope. This is also the second time that the moon has occulted Mars in Taiwan since 2019. The lunar occultation of Mars that occurs at night and is suitable for viewing will have to wait until 2136.This year's Eta Aquariid meteor shower will peak on May 6. Due to the new moon phase and less moonlight interference, the viewing conditions will be excellent. The zenith meteor rate (ZHR) per hour is expected to reach 50. The observers can appreciate the meteor shower radiant point from the east at 1:30 a.m., and the number of meteor will increase as it gets closer to dawn. The Taipei Astronomical Museum will conduct an outdoor mountainside live streaming through the YouTube channel to share the beautiful meteor shower images with everyone.