South Wales Argus astronomy columnist Jon Powell has been interested in astronomy since the early 1980s and, combining his passion for the topic with that of writing, he is a contributor to the BBC Sky at Night magazine. He has written three books on astronomy - Cosmic Debris; Rare Astronomical Sights and Sounds (which was selected by Choice magazine as an Outstanding Academic Title for 2019); and From Cave Art to Hubble, all of which are available from Amazon. Jonathan worked at BBC Radio Wales as their astronomy correspondent and is currently a presenter on Astro Radio UK and online astronomy contributor to the Rest Less Community, a free online website for over 50s.

CHINA has launched the first module of its space station into orbit.

Over the coming year, the Chinese National Space Administration will set about constructing the Tiangong (‘Heavens Palace’) station which is expected to be in service for 15 years.

The International Space Station (ISS) is due to be retired after 2024, which could potentially leave Tiangong as the only space station in Earth's orbit.

It was with great sadness that we saw the passing of astronaut Michael Collins (1930 - 2021) recently, one of the three astronauts onboard the historic Apollo 11 mission which saw Neil Armstrong, also no longer with us, and Buzz Aldrin reach for the Moon.

Once dubbed “the loneliest man in history”, Collins piloted the command module that orbited the moon while Armstrong and Aldrin touched down on the lunar surface.

May’s ‘Flower’ Supermoon

The brightest and largest ‘supermoon’ of 2021 will grace our skies on the evening of Wednesday, May 26. So, what is a supermoon, and why does it occur?

The distance between the Moon and the Earth varies, because the Earth is not directly at the centre of the Moon’s orbit, and the Moon’s orbit is not a circle - it’s an ellipse.

The moment when the Moon is closest to the Earth is known as a ‘lunar perigee’, and if this coincides with a Full or New Moon, we get what is known as a ‘supermoon.’

The average distance of the Moon from the Earth is 238,855 miles.

April’s supermoon was just 222,212 miles from Earth making it the second closest supermoon of 2021.

May’s ‘flower’ supermoon (called so because it coincides with the blooming of flowers) will be slightly closer to Earth at 222,117 miles away. This makes it the closest of this year’s three supermoons, with the final supermoon occurring in June.

Planets

May presents an excellent opportunity to spot the innermost planet of our solar system, Mercury.

Mercury, because of its size and distance, can be elusive, so actually sighting the planet is quite an achievement. In order to locate Mercury, we will need to enlist the help of the second innermost planet, Venus.

Once you’ve located Venus, you can use the planet as a clock face. With an imaginary hour hand, direct your gaze slowly away from Venus and up toward 11 o’clock. Once found, you’ll have spotted one of the trickier objects to detect in the night sky.

As a further guide, a thin crescent Moon will be situated near to Mercury on the evening of Friday, May 14.

Using the Moon as a clock face, use the imaginary hour hand to point as if it were two o’clock, and this will point you in the direction of Mercury.

On Sunday, May 30, both Mercury and Venus will appear very close in the evening sky. Locate Venus, and slowly scan a short distance slightly down and to the left, and you will arrive at Mercury.

For early risers, both Jupiter and Saturn are on view too, situated over to the south east. Jupiter will appear the brighter of the two, as it is closer to Earth and larger in size than Saturn.

Meteor Shower

At the start of May we have the Eta Aquarid meteor shower. The shower is associated with debris left in the wake of Halley’s Comet. The Earth will pass through the most concentrated amount of rubble on May 6, when in the early hours of the morning, we can expect to see up to 55 ‘shooting stars’ per hour.

To observe the shower, it is vital that you have the best view possible of the south eastern horizon, as the radiant, (point where the meteors emanate from), is quite low in the sky

Society news

All society meetings at present are still being held via Zoom of similar platforms. Hopefully, soon, regular indoor meetings can resume as Covid-19 restrictions lift.

Send society news and astronomy photographs to: TheNightSky@themoon.co.uk

Moon phases

  • Third quarter: May 3;
  • New Moon: May 11;
  • First quarter: May 19;
  • Full Moon: May 26.

Sunrise/sunset times

  • Start of May: Sun rises at 5.43am. Sets at 8.35pm.
  • End of May: Sun rises at 5am. Sets at 9.19pm.