With spring in full swing, May presents excellent stargazing opportunities featuring meteor showers, moon-planet meetups, and potentially visible northern lights. The month starts with Mars and the moon meeting in the western sky, along with the Beehive star cluster. The Eta Aquariids meteor shower peaks on May 5-6, promising up to 60 meteors an hour for those in optimal viewing locations. To enhance the experience, it's recommended to seek dark skies and possibly use binoculars for better visibility of celestial wonders.
Don't forget to keep an eye on northern lights activity this month as well. Since we're in the peak period of aurora activity, a strong lights night could appear at any time.
On the night of May 3, Mars and a half moon will appear to nearly meet in the western sky. According to stargazing app SkySafari, the large Beehive star cluster, a swarm of 1,000 stars, will join the fun just left of Mars.
The Eta Aquariids meteor shower runs from April 15 to May 27, but it reaches its greatest period of productivity in the pre-dawn hours-an ideal time for sky-watching.
You could see up to 60 meteors per hour during peak conditions and under dark, moonless skies, but the best viewing is in the southern U.S., and especially the southern hemisphere.
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