We are in the last month of galaxy season, that magical time from March till the end of May, when constellations that are highest in the night sky at midnight point away from our own Milkyway. This gives us Astro-geeks with telescopes the opportunity to venture far into deep space and capture galaxies that are millions of lightyears away. In this blog, I’ll give you some super interesting deep-sky objects that are awesome to observe or photograph with a telescope in May 2023. If you don’t have a telescope, don’t worry. I have a separate blog about awesome night-sky events that are visible to the naked eye!
May: Final month for Galaxies and Clusters!
May marks the last month of galaxy season. We still have some awesome galaxies that are high in the sky at midnight. However, most galaxies already crossed the meridian and are now moving toward the western horizon. Of course, you can still observe or photograph these galaxies. Here are two v/blogs about Deep Sky Objects in March and April, where I mention 50+ awesome deep sky objects, most of them galaxies, including tips on how to observe or photograph them. Before I’ll start my overview, I’d like to take a moment to highlight one interesting object that is not often discussed, but nevertheless great to observe and photograph: Globular Clusters.
Globular Clusters: Ancient stars packed together in our MilkyWay
At the end of May, the famous Great Globular Cluster in Hercules, also designated as Messier 13, will be highest in the sky at midnight. This globular cluster is over 145 light-years in diameter and is composed of several hundred thousand stars, with estimates varying from around 300,000 to over half a million. Globular clusters are densely packed collections of ancient stars. Spherical in shape, they often contain hundreds of thousands of stars. There are about 150 known globular clusters in the Milky Way galaxy. Most are estimated to be at least 10 billion years old and contain some of the oldest stars in the galaxy. The clusters likely formed very early, before the galaxy flattened into a spiral disc.
Deep-Sky Objects to Observe or Photograph with a Telescope in May
So let me show you the exact date when these globular clusters and other interesting deep sky objects are highest in the sky around midnight. I do admit, I’m living in the northern hemisphere so most of the targets I point out are best viewed from the northern hemisphere. I’ll show the exact date when deep sky objects are highest in the sky at midnight, including what type of object it is, in which constellation you can find the object, as well as their apparent size. As a comparison, the moon has an apparent size of 31 arcminutes. Most of the deep-sky objects I’m about to mention have an apparent size much smaller than the moon. So a long focal length telescope really helps to observe and photograph these tiny objects in the night sky. Most pictures come from the Aladin Sky Atlas unless stated otherwise. I’m sure you’ll be able to take higher-quality pictures of these objects with a dedicated long focal-length astrophotography telescope from your backyard! Enough talk, here’s the overview! Pictures for each of the objects are displayed in the video.
On May 2, NGC 5560 and NGC 5566 will cross the meridian at midnight in the constellation Virgo. The apparent sizes of both spiral galaxies are 36’x <1′ and 6.6′ x 2.3′.
On May 4, NGC 5634 will cross the meridian at midnight in the constellation Virgo. This globular cluster has an apparent size of 5.5′
On May 4, NGC 5639 will cross the meridian at midnight in the constellation Boötes. This spiral galaxy has an apparent size of 1,4′ x <1′.
On May 6, NGC 5709, will cross the meridian at midnight in the constellation Boötes. This elongated galaxy has an apparent size of 1.6′ x <1′.
On May 14, M 102, also called NGC 5866 or the Spindle Galaxy, will cross the meridian at midnight in the constellation Draco. The apparent size of this galaxy is 3.1′.
On May 16, M 5, also called NGC 5904 or the Rose Cluster, will cross the meridian at midnight in the constellation Serpens. The apparent size of this globular cluster is 23′.
On May 16, NGC 5900 will cross the meridian at midnight in the constellation Boötes. This spiral galaxy has an apparent size of 1.7′ x <1′.
On May 16, NGC 5907, also called the splinter Galaxy, crosses the meridian at midnight in the constellation Draco. This Spiral Galaxy has an apparent size of 12.6′ x 1.4′.
On May 21, NGC 5981, NGC 5982, and NGC 5985 will cross the meridian at midnight in the constellation Draco. The apparent sizes of this these galaxies are 2.7′ x <1, 2.6′ x 1.9′, and 5.5′ x 3′.
On May 28, Abell 2151 will cross the meridian at midnight in the constellation Hercules. This galaxy cluster has an apparent size of 56′.
On June 6, M13, also designated as NGC6205, or the Great Globular Cluster in Hercules, will cross the meridian at midnight in the constellation Hercules. Its apparent size is 20′.
Clear skies!