2019 Week 22: (May 26-June 1)

This week will mark the first full week in 2019 without what is officially recognized as 'night'.  The Sun will be less than 18° above the horizon and twilight will reign for two months.

Date	Event
May 26	Last Quarter
May 28	Ceres at Opposition
May 30	Vesta 0.6°S of Moon
May 31	Uranus 5°N of Moon
June 1	Venus 3°N of Moon

On Sunday the Moon will have reached its last quarter phase and will be visible the early morning sky and throughout the day.  Soon it will be a new moon and then visible as a slim waxing crescent signalling the end of Ramadan.

The dwarf planet Ceres will be at opposition on Tuesday May 28 and will sit a few degrees above Antares, the bright red star in Scorpius.  Seasoned observers can certainly resolve this magnitude 7.0 object in a telescope and then pop over for a visit to Jupiter just to the East.

Ceres (Image Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / UCLA / MPS / DLR / IDA / Justin Cowart)

A magnitude 8.3 asteroid, the second largest object in the belt (after Ceres), will be in conjunction with the Moon two nights later.  The Moon will then dance with Uranus and Venus the following two evenings.  Well, by evenings I mean early mornings just before the sun rises.

I caught a conjunction with Uranus and Mars earlier this year in February and they are always more fun to see in person than to talk about!

Mars/Uranus Conjunction - February 2019

There are two rocket launches scheduled for this week that can be watched live.  A Soyuz rocket will be taking a navigational satellite into space as the day turns to May 27.  Three days later another Russian rocket will take off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan with a communications satellite.

Date	Event
May 27	Soyuz - Glonass M (0:00)
May 30	Proton - Yamal 601 (11:42)

What sort of challenge object should you look out for this week?  I invite you to cast your telescopes on the Leo Triplet.  This small grouping of galaxies in the sky are separately known as M65, M66 and NGC3628.  They can be resolved in a field of view of 1° and also certainly worth the time for astrophotographers. 

Leo Triplet

They are conveniently located under the hind legs of the lion halfway between Theta and Iota Leonis.  Grab a light bucket telescope and seek them out for a great view 35 million light years from home.

We have started a Youtube channel to discuss all the things going on in the sky based right in here Calgary.  If you are reading this and haven't subscribed yet check it out below!

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCW8U3OjONxqEl4OOyT8k00A

It doesn't have a fancy URL yet because you need at least 100 subscribers!  So navigate there and click 'Subscribe'!

As always, take the time to look up and enjoy the night sky above.  If you are out camping away from the city you will see many more stars.  You can always learn more about them by wandering our many blogs, social media accounts or by emailing!