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The night sky in May will be filled with exciting sights. That includes an eclipse of a Full Flower Supermoon.

Venus and Jupiter begin the month shining brightly together. There’s a total lunar eclipse mid-month and a possible new meteor shower toward the end of the month!

At dawn on May 1 Venus and Jupiter will mimic a “double planet.” Grab your telescope and look low in the eastern sky.

They should be visible a half hour before sunrise. In the following mornings, Jupiter will pull away from Venus to ascend toward the West. And by the end of the month, the big planet will be coming up at about two thirty in the morning. Venus will continue to rise at dawn until the end of August.

Full Flower Supermoon 

On May 4, the Full Flower Moon will be in full bloom in the night sky. The name 'flower moon' points to all of May’s flowers blooming and abundant in the Northern Hemisphere.

This month’s full Moon is also a “supermoon” because it comes the closest to the Earth in its orbit or “perigee.” The proximity to the Earth makes it appear much larger than other full moons.

Eta Aquarid Meteor Shower 

Stars will appear to spill from Aquarius aka the “water jar” constellation on May 6. The Eta Aquarids, like October’s Orionids, are associated with Halley’s Comet. 

According to NASA, the meteors will be traveling at about 148,000 mph about 41 miles or 66 km into Earth's atmosphere.

The fast-moving Eta Aquarid meteors are predicted to reach their peak at 3 a.m. They are usually most visible to Southern Hemisphere observers. And observers usually see over 40 per hour. But the number of visible meteors varies strongly by latitude. 

Observers in the tropics may see 20 meteors per hour under ideal conditions, while at more northerly latitudes the rates could be half that or less. Usually, these meteors move swiftly leaving a glowing train behind them. 

Total Eclipse of the Moon

On May 16 at 12:14 a.m., the Full Flower Supermoon will pass completely into the Earth’s shadow. And this results in a total lunar eclipse. This phenomenon only happens about every two and a half years. The last one took place in May of 2021.

The total Lunar Eclipse will begin at 11:29 p.m. (Eastern time) on May 15-16. It may not be very dramatic in the US. And the best views will be in Asia, Africa, and Australia.

Across the Eastern US, the eclipse will begin during the late evening hours of Sunday, the 15th, while in the Western US, the eclipse will have already begun as the Moon rises.

Totality will last 85 minutes. During the eclipse, the Moon should turn bright red.

New Moon Rising, stars falling

The new moon arrives on May 30. And on May 31 another meteor show should appear.

The time to look up is 10 p.m. Pacific standard time in the Western US. And in the Eastern US, 1 a.m. Eastern standard time is when the rare meteor shower should appear. 

Skywatchers should be looking for a possible rare new meteor shower. The Earth passes through debris that was shed by the tiny comet Schwassmann-Wachmann-3.

In 1995, astronomers were surprised to see the core of this comet break up into four separate pieces. And it released a cloud of dusty material into space. The amount of space debris the Earth may encounter is still unknown.

If there is a thick concentration, we may be treated to a short meteor shower. Astronomers expect dozens, or even hundreds of “shooting stars” can be seen in an hour’s viewing time.