Here’s a brief look at what’s going on in the Mile High City this week.

May 12:

• Full Flower Moon at 10:55 AM MDT.

May 13:

• Astrophotography Special Interest Group (ASIG) – General Meeting for DAS Members: 7:00 PM (more info).
• Look for the waning gibbous Flower Moon right next to Antares, the red giant in the constellation Scorpius high in the southeastern skies around 11 PM.

May 14:

• Asteroid 3 Juno reaches opposition at midnight MDT. 3 Juno is one of the largest main-belt asteroids, discovered in 1804 by Karl Ludwig Harding and located between Mars and Jupiter. It reaches opposition—when it is closest to Earth and fully illuminated—approximately every 15.5 months, offering the best views for observers with binoculars or telescopes.

May 15:

• Standlely Lake Stargazing Virtual Program – Cosmic Conversations – Guest Speaker: Shubham Garg – Star Harbor – 6:00 PM at the Standley Lake Library and livestream.
• NASA Night Sky Network Webinar Series: Placing Worlds and Suns in Context with Dr. Eric Mamajek: 8:00 PM (Zoom – Registration Required)

May 16:

• Look for the waning gibbous Flower Moon in the asterism of the Teapot in the constellation Sagittarius high in the early morning southern sky around 4:00 AM.
• Public Star Night at the Little Thompson Observatory in Berthoud, CO: 7:00 – 10:00 PM
• Astronomy Night with NoCo Astronomical Society in Loveland, CO: 9:00 – 10:30 PM

May 17:

• Although obscured by sunlight, Uranus is in conjunction with Sun at 7:00 PM MDT.

May 18:

• Make sure to catch Jupiter low above the western horizon in the constellation Taurus around sunset before it disappears from the night sky in June, not to return until November. Jupiter is bright enough to see with the naked eye, but binoculars or a small telescope will reveal its 4 Galilean moons – and larger telescopes will reveal the white and orange latitudinal bands.

Sky Map

• The pdf map of the night sky from SkyMaps.com can be found at https://www.skymaps.com/skymaps

This Week’s Meteoric Activity:

You can keep track of the activity of meteor showers as well as those beyond the limits of visual observing by visiting the NASA Meteor Shower Portal.

• Anthelion (ANT): 1:00 AM local time in eastern Libra: 1 per hour.
• eta Lyrids (ELY): last hour before dawn in northeastern Lyra: less than 1 per hour.
• psi Cygnids (PCY) : last hour before dawn in northwestern Cygnus: less than 1 per hour.
• beta Aquariids (BAQ): last hour before dawn in northern Aquarius: less than 1 per hour.
• April rho Cygnids (ARC): last hour before dawn in northeastern Cygnus: less than 1 per hour.
• eta Aquariids (ETA): last hour before dawn in northeastern Aquarius: 5-10 per hour at best.

Clear skies and happy stargazing!