Abstract
DURING the month, the duration of night decreases in the latitude of London by nearly 1£ hours. The moon is new on May 10 at 13-3h and full on May 25 at 7.6h, when a penumbral eclipse takes place. The greatest altitude of the moon at meridian passage (61-2°) is on May 12, and the least altitude, 15-9°, on May 26. Venus is a morning star rising just over an hour before the sun; on and about May 24 the planet is at its greatest brilliancy (magnitude 4.2). Conjunction with the moon occurs on May 8 at 15h. On May 11 at llh, Mercury is in inferior conjunction with the sun, and a partial transit (invisible from Great Britain) of the sun's disk occurs the same day between 8jn and 9Jh. The planet Mars is conspicuous low down in the night sky and souths about midnight in the middle of the month. On May 19, Mars is in, opposition, and nearest to the earth on May 28, when the apparent diameter of the planet is 18£”. On May 24 at 18h, there is a conjunction with the moon, Mars being 0.6° northwards. Jupiter is a morning star of about mag. 2-0 in Sagittarius. Saturn rises in the dawn and can only be located with difficulty. About May 5, the maximum of the r) Aquarid meteors occurs, the radiant being at R.A. 22h 32: Dec. -2°, and on May 24 that of the Herculids, the radiant of which is at R.A. 16h 36m and Dec. +30°. Approximate positions for Comet Whipple (19376) are given by Moller's ephemeris in I.A.U. Circular No. 653, as follows:
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The Night Sky in May. Nature 139, 752 (1937). https://doi.org/10.1038/139752b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/139752b0