Abstract
THE duration of night (sunset to sunrise) decreases from 9-3 hours on May 1 to 7-7 hours on June 1 in the latitude of London. Full moon is on May 11 and new moon on May 26. ]STo bright star is occulted by the moon during the month. There is a general absence of bright planets in the night sky of this month. Jupiter and Saturn are now too near the sun for observation. Towards the end of May, however, conditions are favourable for seeing Mercury in the low western sky after sunset. In mid-May, Mars is nearly 5° above the eastern horizon soon after 3h. 30m. U.T., but sunrise is shortly after 4h. (add 2 hours to convert to new Summer Time). About this date the following constellations are near the southern meridian at dusk: Ursa Major, Canes Venatici, Coma Berenices, Bootes, Leo, Virgo, Crater, Corvus and Hydra. Pleasing in its symmetry is the formation of seven stars of medium brightness in Corona Borealis. A nova appearing near e Coronae Borealis in 1866 added to the lustre of this ‘crown’.
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The Night Sky in May. Nature 147, 509 (1941). https://doi.org/10.1038/147509b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/147509b0