The Local Weekly The heart and soul of our communities with news and information about the Sunshine Coast
Mercury and Venus will not be observable in May. Mars will rise in the southeast after dark and transit in the south near 2am. Jupiter will be seen in the south after dark and sets in the west near 3am. Saturn rises in the southeast at dusk and transits in the south near 2am.
On Thursday, May 5 the Eta Aquarid Meteor Shower will be the best viewing of the year in the Southern Hemisphere but will be very marginal for viewers in the Northern Hemisphere. International Astronomy week begins on Monday, May 9 and runs through May 15. On Saturday, May 14, International Astronomy Day will be observed around the world. For local events and information visit www.coastastronomy.ca. The Moon will be 4 degrees to the lower right of Jupiter on May 14. The Royal Astronomy Society of Canada will host the Annual General Assembly at the London, Ontario Centre on May 19. On Saturday, May 21 the Moon, Mars and Saturn will rise in a loose group in mid-evening. The Full Moon is known as the Flower moon because of the number of flowers in abundance at this time of year. Moon Names originate from Native Americans. The May 21 full Moon is also referred to as the Blue moon. (When the island of Krakatoa blew up in May of 1883 dust particles gave the Moon and Sun a actual blue tint that lasted almost two years.)
On Friday, May 13 at the Sechelt Arts Centre, Steve Mairs from the University of BC Okanagan Campus will speak on “Where do baby stars come from and why it is important to know”. When most people look up at the dark night sky they see stars; Steve looks up and sees the origins of life. Steve travelled to Hawaii where he used the James Clerk Maxwell telescope for his data collection. Using this data he was able to measure the physical properties of almost 100 distinct star-forming regions in the Triangulum Galaxy. Steve is also an accomplished guitarist. The presentation begins at 8pm.
The Sunshine Coast Club Observatory will be open to the Public on Saturday, May 14 and the Astro cafe at Davis Bay will be on Friday, May 20. On May 9, the observatory will open at 6am to witness the transit of Mercury.
