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The stars in May
Independent, The (London), Apr 30, 2008
It's easy to see the universe in black and white. Glance up at the sky, and it looks as though the stars are white pinpricks on the black velvet background. But look more carefully, and you'll see that the brighter objects all have subtle hues of colour.
Two planets are on easy view in the evening sky. And they couldn't contrast more in colour. The brighter - Saturn - is a creamy yellow, while Mars is red. Well, despite its moniker of the "Red Planet", Mars doesn't match up to a traffic light. It's more of an ochre colour, like old rust.
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The southern sky this month is dominated by three stars: Regulus in Leo; Spica in Virgo; and Arcturus in Botes. The first is white; Spica has a slightly bluish-white hue; while Arcturus is distinctly orange-red. Binoculars will catch more of a star's light than the naked eye, and reveal the colours clearly.
Star colours follow a trend like a poker in a fire. It starts by glowing dull red; as it gets hotter, the poker becomes orange, then yellow. The stars follow a similar rule, but writ large...
Arcturus is among the coolest of the stars visible to the naked eye, glowing at a "mere" 4,000C. Our local star, the Sun, comes higher up the scale, at 5,500C, and shines yellow-white.
The surface of Regulus is at about 13,000C, and is literally white-hot. With Spica, the balance of colours shifts away from the yellow-red end of the spectrum, towards the blue. Its blue-white colour reveals that Spica is among the hottest stars we know. It's at a searing 20,000C!
What's Up
Saturn is the "star" of the month. The ringed planet is high in the south in the late evening, next to Regulus. The brighter Saturn shines with a steady yellow glow, in contrast to the twinkling blue- white Regulus. Binoculars show the difference well.
To the right, you'll find Mars. It's declining in brightness as the faster-moving Earth pulls away from the Red Planet. Mars starts the month close to the twin stars of Gemini, Castor and Pollux, but it's moving steadily to the left in the sky, and by mid-month it's entered the faint constellation of Cancer (the crab).
On the nights of 22 and 23 May, Mars moves right in front of Praesepe, a star cluster that lies in the heart of Cancer. Praesepe means "the manger" in Latin, with the two neighbouring stars being the donkeys feeding from it. But this busy cluster of some 400 stars is more colloquially known as the Beehive!
To the lower-left of Leo, you'll find the Y-shaped constellation of Virgo (the virgin), with the stem of the Y marked by brilliant Spica. Above Spica lies red giant Arcturus, in Botes (the herdsman).
In the early morning of 5 May, you may see shooting stars in the South-east. These Eta Aquarid meteors are fragments of Halley's Comet, burning up in Earth's atmosphere.
Just after sunset, you may spot Mercury very low in the North- west around mid-May. And if you're stargazing after midnight, you can't fail to spot brilliant Jupiter rising in the South-east. In the early morning of 22 May, Jupiter has an odd appearance as seen in binoculars or a small telescope, as its four bright moons seem to be missing: they are either behind the giant planet or directly in front of Jupiter.
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