Night Sky May 2020 Update: Comet SWAN, ATLAS, PANSTARRS and more

In this blog, I’ll discuss objects to see and image in the night sky for the month of may 2020. Obviously, the main attraction of the moment is Comet SWAN C/2020 F8! But there are other things to look for as well. I’ll discuss the following objects:

• Near Earth Objects (Comets and asteroids)
• Planets and moon
• Deep Sky Objects

Also, I’m looking for your participation in my monthly night sky videos :-)!!! I would be very grateful if you would share pictures of the objects I mention in this blog and video on instagram with me. You can do that by including the hashtag #nsasfo (night sky astroforum) and my handle @astroforum when posting your picture. I will take a look at all pictures and show a collection of those in my next months night sky update in june.

Near Earth Objects

COMETS

Comet SWAN (C/2020 F8) 

This comet is THE comet of this moment!!! With an observed magnitude of 5.2 at the time of writing, it is currently visible with the naked eye if you have access to dark skies and live in the southern hemisphere. The comet will be visible during the first and second week of may. Look towards the east high up in the constellation Cetus, were the comet will steadily climb above the horizon and rise from 4am until sunrise. As for the northern hemisphere, we have to be patient and pray this comet will survive the solar winds for coming weeks. If the comet survives – and that’s a big IF – it will be visible in the final week of may. Just after sunset comet swan will be visible in the northwestern evening sky in the constellation perseus, where it will decrease in altitude while “moving” towards the north and northeast during the night. For more details on Comet SWAN you can check out my blog that shows the exact location of the comet in the night sky as well as tips on how to photograph comet SWAN with a regular DSLR camera.

Comet ATLAS C/2019 Y1 and PANSTARRS C/2017 T2

With all the attention on Comet SWAN, we would almost forget that there are currently two other comets with a magnitude < 9 in the northern hemisphere: Comet Atlas C/2019 Y1 and PANSTARRS C/2017 T2. Although they cannot be spotted with the naked eye, they are visible with the help of a small telescope or some binoculars.

Comet ATLAS C/2019 Y1 is currently at its closest distance from earth at 1.1 astronomical units (about 165 million kilometers from earth). At the time of writing, the comet reports a magnitude of 8.7 and is located in the constellation Camelopardalis in the northern hemisphere, high up in the northern night sky . As Comet ATLAS is circumpolar, it can be seen and captured the entire night.

Comet PANSTARRS C/2017 T2 is currently at perihelion (its closest distance from the sun) and at its closest distance from earth at 1.7 AU (about 250 million kilometers). The observed magnitude is currently 8.7 meaning that you can see this comet with the help of a small telescope or some binoculars. PANSTARRS is also circumpolar and located in the constellation Camelopardalis.

Asteroids

When looking at asteroids, we just had one close pass of 2020 JA which zipped by the earth at a distance of about 238.000 kilometers. Other NEO’s are further out in may at a distance of at least one million kilometers. The list below shows the asteroid names, dates of their closest approaches and closest distances in kilometers as well as their relative speeds in the month of May.

Moon and Planets (northern hemisphere)

Conjunction of Venus and Mercury

This is the final month to spot Venus in the eastern sky, just after sunset. Although Venus will still be very bright (<-4 magnitude) it will also appear be lower in the eastern sky with each passing day as it is ‘catching up’ with earth in its (faster) orbit around the sun. Venus will pass earth in its orbit at June 2. Just before Venus says goodbye and will pass below the horizon, however, it has a special treat for us. On the 22nd and 23rd of May, Mercury and Venus will have a conjunction and appear very close together in the eastern sky, close to the horizon. This is a perfect opportunity to photograph the two planets together in one single frame, using a regular DSLR camera or smartphone. On the 24th of May, a crescent moon will also be close to venus and mercury in the eastern night sky, just after sunset which may be captured with a wide lens or smartphone.

Jupiter, Saturn and Mars

Jupiter, Saturn and Mars will appear relatively close together in the morning sky during this month. Both Jupiter and Saturn will rise in the southeastern sky and will be visible from about 3:30am until sunrise. They will move towards the south while also increasing in altitude until sunrise. Jupiter will be the brightest planet in the sky with a magnitude of about -2.5, whereas Saturn will have a magnitude of about 1.2. Mars will rise at about 4am in the east/southeast, travelling towards the southeast and increasing in altitude until sunrise. The waning moon will be in close proximity to jupiter and saturn on may 12, and close to Mars on may 15.

Popular Deep Sky Objects (northern hemisphere)

Good news for people who are interested in widefield nebulae: The milky way – or at least part of it – will be visible again from midnight until sunrise. In particular, the constellation cygnus will will rise in the eastern sky and just after midnight, and move towards the southeast while rising in the night sky. This provides a great opportunity to image our beloved objects in Cygnus. For example, close to the star SADR you’ll find the famous crescent nebula (NGC6888). Close to Deneb you can start to capture the famous north america nebula (NGC7000) and the pelican nebula (IC5070). Although each of these objects will move higher up in the sky and more to the south in june/july, you might want to profit from the fact that the nights in May are just a little bit longer, which may allow you to get all of that narrowband data in one or two nights. For those of you who have bigger scopes and are into galaxy hunting, ursa major and all of the famous galaxies such as the whirlpool (M51) and pinwheel galaxy (M101) can still be captured in May, although the constellation ursa major where these galaxies are located will decrease in apparent altitude and move towards the north-western horizon.

Share your pictures!

If you want to share some of the objects I mentioned with me you you can! I would be delighted to make a selection and show them in my next night sky update in June on my YouTube channel. It would be easiest for me if you share your pictures with my using instagram. Just use my handle: @astroforum and include this hashtag: #nsasfo – which stands for nightsky astroforum.

If possible, include a short description about where you took the picture, your thoughts and/or emotions and astogear you used. I want to stress that this is definitely for everyone. The night sky is not a competition in my opinion. So not only those with advanced astrophotography gear, but also those of you who are just starting out in this hobby are definitely invited to share their pictures with me. I will make a selection and show pictures you shared during my next episode of the nightsky in june.

Clear skies!