Mercury - will be a good target this month. It changes position, size and brightness quickly through May. Early in the month it shines quite brightly at magnitude -0.9. It will sit low on the western horizon near the Pleiades (M45). As the month goes on it gets higher above the horizon but at the same time it dims. It gets to its greatest elongation on May 13/14 when it will be magnitude 0.4. This is a good time to try to observe it- when it is furthest away from the sun s glare. After the 14th Mercury will continue to get dimmer and quickly get lower on the horizon.

Venus - Now in conjunction with the sun and not visible from Earth for the duration of May, emerging as an "evening star" by early summer.

Mars - is now far from Earth and becoming smaller and dimmer until its next return in 2009. Brilliant reddish Mars, now in Gemini, will be moving into the constellation of cancer and beginning the evening of May 22, will move into and through the beautiful and large open star cluster "Beehive" (Messier 44) in Cancer...this encounter is spectacular and should not be missed. On May 25, the Red Planet receives a visitor from Earth, the Phoenix spacecraft which will begin exploring Mar's north polar territory.

Jupiter - will be dominating in the morning sky. Around midmonth it will be shining at -2.5. It will be in the southeastern morning sky early in the month. As the month goes on Jupiter climbs higher and rises sooner every morning. It comes up around 1:00AM early in the month then around 3:00AM late in the month. The best time to observe it then is before dawn when it has climbed higher and before any morning twilight glare can interfere. Its banded surface and 4 orbiting moons make it a great sight even through a small telescope. It shines bright white in color. Jupiter's Great Red Spot, a large anti-cyclone, can be seen centered on the planet's disc at the following times (EDT):

05/03/2008, 03:40 am; 05/05/2008, 05:18 am; 05/10/2008, 04:26 am; 05/12/2008, 06:04 am; 05/15/2008, 03:33 am; 05/17/2008, 05:11 am; 05/22/2008, 04:19 am; 05/24/2008, 05:57 am; 05/27/2008, 03:26 am; 05/29/2008, 05:04 am

For detailed postions of Jupiter's Moons try this interactive javascript utility.

Saturn - is currently well placed for observing for the first half of the night. Look for it near 1st magnitude Regulus during May. Saturn is just past the meridian by sunset at mid-month, when it will then be 60 degrees above the horizon. Saturn will be magnitude 0.6 during May with an apparent diameter of 18 arc-seconds. The rings will be 39 arc-seconds across and tilted 10 degrees to our line-of-sight. By late December, the ring tilt will be only 1 degree. At least 6 of Saturn's many moons are bright enough to be seen with an 8" scope.

The Cassini spacecraft continues its observation of Saturn and its many moons and rings. For the latest images from Cassini, see:

http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.cfm

For detailed postions of Saturn's Moons try this interactive javascript utility.

Uranus - gets high enough above the horizon to be a good target late in the month. It is in the morning eastern sky. By the end of the month it will be sufficiently above the horizon avoid the morning twilight. It will not be high in the sky but only 20º above the horizon. It will be in on the border between Aquarius and Pisces. At magnitude 5.9 Uranus is a theoretical naked eye object and an easy binocular object. Uranus shines with pale aquamarine color.

Neptune - lcan be found this month in the eastern sky an hour or two before sunrise. It will be higher in the sky than Uranus. It will be in Capricornus near its star Delta Capricornus. Neptune will be shining at magnitude 7.9. It will take some careful looking with a pair of binoculars to spot it. Through a telescope Neptune shines with a pale blue color.

Pluto - still a planet by ASO standards, will sit above Jupiter in the morning sky. Around 1:00AM it gets fairly high in the sky making it a potential target. It sits in the constellation Ophiuchus but lower down toward Sagittarius. Pluto is always a very tough target. You need dark skies, a good chart, at least an 8 telescope and patience to find it. This month it shines at magnitude 13.9.

Eris (pronounced "EE-ris") - formerly known as Xena, 2003 UB313, and "the tenth planet" - is magnitude 19 in central Cetus, high in the south during evening.

For detailed information please visit Astronomical Delights

TComet Boattini (C/2007 W1) - this is likely the comet of Spring if you are located in the southern skies; low in the constellation of HYDRA, this comet will reach magnitude 7 during May and will be a very low object in western skies.