Monthly Observing InformationMonthly Observing Information
This page provides charts, and text concerning what is visible in the night sky during the month noted. All information is for Baton Rouge, Louisiana, but they can still provide useful information for most other areas of the U.S.A. Sky charts, Saturn ring plane, and Venus phase images are for Midnight, on the 15th day of the month. Sky charts are 100 degree field of view, and show objects down to 12th magnitude. Times in the text information are in 24 hour format and have been adjusted for Daylight Savings Time. Subtract 12 hours from those over 12 to get the equivalent PM. RA and DEC given are for Epoch 2000.
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Current Moon phase & Galilean satellites
Baton Rouge Clear Sky Clock
Click on image for more info and details. This clock is for the Baton Rouge area only.
Kisatchie Clear Sky Clock
Click on image for more info and details. This clock is for the Kisatchie area only.
May
Moon Calendar
Sky charts
Saturn's Ring Plane
Venus Phase
Sun and Moon Rise and Set
Date Moonrise Moonset Sunrise Sunset Twilight Twilight ------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- 5/1/2008 03:39 15:47 06:21 19:43 04:53 21:11 5/2/2008 04:09 16:52 06:20 19:44 04:52 21:12 5/3/2008 04:42 18:00 06:19 19:45 04:51 21:13 5/4/2008 05:19 19:12 06:18 19:45 04:50 21:14 5/5/2008 06:01 20:26 06:17 19:46 04:49 21:15 5/6/2008 06:51 21:41 06:16 19:47 04:48 21:16 5/7/2008 07:49 22:50 06:16 19:47 04:47 21:17 5/8/2008 08:55 23:51 06:15 19:48 04:45 21:18 5/9/2008 10:05 ------ 06:14 19:49 04:44 21:19 5/10/2008 11:14 00:41 06:13 19:49 04:43 21:20 5/11/2008 12:20 01:24 06:13 19:50 04:42 21:21 5/12/2008 13:22 01:59 06:12 19:51 04:41 21:21 5/13/2008 14:21 02:29 06:11 19:51 04:40 21:22 5/14/2008 15:17 02:58 06:11 19:52 04:40 21:23 5/15/2008 16:12 03:25 06:10 19:53 04:39 21:24 5/16/2008 17:08 03:52 06:09 19:53 04:38 21:25 5/17/2008 18:04 04:21 06:09 19:54 04:37 21:26 5/18/2008 19:01 04:52 06:08 19:54 04:36 21:27 5/19/2008 19:58 05:28 06:08 19:55 04:35 21:28 5/20/2008 20:54 06:08 06:07 19:56 04:34 21:29 5/21/2008 21:47 06:53 06:07 19:56 04:34 21:30 5/22/2008 22:36 07:44 06:06 19:57 04:33 21:31 5/23/2008 23:21 08:38 06:06 19:58 04:32 21:31 5/24/2008 24:00 09:36 06:05 19:58 04:32 21:32 5/25/2008 ------ 10:35 06:05 19:59 04:31 21:33 5/26/2008 00:35 11:34 06:05 19:59 04:30 21:34 5/27/2008 01:07 12:33 06:04 20:00 04:30 21:35 5/28/2008 01:37 13:33 06:04 20:00 04:29 21:35 5/29/2008 02:07 14:34 06:04 20:01 04:29 21:36 5/30/2008 02:38 15:39 06:03 20:02 04:28 21:37 5/31/2008 03:11 16:47 06:03 20:02 04:28 21:38
Information and images in this section from The Sky6 Professional
Solar System Information
Planet View Info Report for 5/ 1/2008 to 5/31/2008
Mercury
Date Rise Set RA Dec Elongation Ill Fr DIST(AU)
5/ 1/2008 7:09 21:05 3h36m01s 21°12'55" 15°51'52" 0.753 1.13127
5/ 8/2008 7:20 21:30 4h23m34s 24°04'31" 20°26'27" 0.538 0.97252
5/15/2008 7:24 21:38 4h58m56s 25°03'49" 21°45'53" 0.347 0.81848
5/22/2008 7:17 21:26 5h19m00s 24°34'02" 19°27'06" 0.191 0.68938
5/29/2008 6:57 20:54 5h22m18s 22°58'50" 13°19'27" 0.071 0.59742
Venus
Date Rise Set RA Dec Elongation Ill Fr DIST(AU)
5/ 1/2008 5:55 18:53 1h55m31s 10°28'23" 10°31'53" 0.984 1.69236
5/ 8/2008 5:53 19:06 2h28m31s 13°30'29" 8°41'30" 0.989 1.70611
5/15/2008 5:52 19:19 3h02m16s 16°16'39" 6°49'48" 0.993 1.71731
5/22/2008 5:53 19:32 3h36m55s 18°42'45" 4°56'51" 0.996 1.72593
5/29/2008 5:55 19:46 4h12m27s 20°44'46" 3°02'53" 0.999 1.73190
Mars
Date Rise Set RA Dec Elongation Ill Fr DIST(AU)
5/ 1/2008 11:17 1:18 7h50m39s 22°54'00" 74°20'23" 0.906 1.62539
5/ 8/2008 11:07 1:04 8h06m12s 22°05'12" 71°14'26" 0.910 1.68900
5/15/2008 10:58 0:49 8h21m55s 21°10'25" 68°14'42" 0.913 1.75084
5/22/2008 10:49 0:35 8h37m44s 20°09'48" 65°20'28" 0.917 1.81078
5/29/2008 10:40 0:20 8h53m35s 19°03'28" 62°30'56" 0.921 1.86874
Jupiter
Date Rise Set RA Dec Elongation Ill Fr DIST(AU)
5/ 1/2008 0:54 11:10 19h36m26s -21°37'24" 108°41'21" 0.992 4.79124
5/ 8/2008 0:27 10:43 19h36m55s -21°37'13" 115°21'47" 0.992 4.68689
5/15/2008 23:55 10:15 19h36m45s -21°38'34" 122°10'03" 0.993 4.58817
5/22/2008 23:27 9:47 19h35m56s -21°41'27" 129°06'07" 0.994 4.49652
5/29/2008 22:58 9:18 19h34m29s -21°45'46" 136°10'07" 0.995 4.41331
Saturn
Date Rise Set RA Dec Elongation Ill Fr DIST(AU)
5/ 1/2008 14:10 3:17 10h17m56s 12°30'52" 110°48'02" 0.997 8.89658
5/ 8/2008 13:42 2:49 10h17m58s 12°29'45" 104°02'08" 0.997 9.00771
5/15/2008 13:15 2:22 10h18m20s 12°26'44" 97°22'51" 0.997 9.12213
5/22/2008 12:49 1:55 10h19m02s 12°21'54" 90°49'59" 0.997 9.23820
5/29/2008 12:22 1:28 10h20m02s 12°15'20" 84°22'59" 0.997 9.35449
Uranus
Date Rise Set RA Dec Elongation Ill Fr DIST(AU)
5/ 1/2008 4:03 15:47 23h29m35s -4°05'44" 49°36'07" 1.000 20.73696
5/ 8/2008 3:36 15:21 23h30m37s -3°59'21" 56°06'36" 1.000 20.64400
5/15/2008 3:09 14:54 23h31m32s -3°53'43" 62°37'28" 1.000 20.54351
5/22/2008 2:42 14:28 23h32m19s -3°48'52" 69°08'56" 0.999 20.43685
5/29/2008 2:15 14:01 23h32m59s -3°44'51" 75°41'30" 0.999 20.32537
Neptune
Date Rise Set RA Dec Elongation Ill Fr DIST(AU)
5/ 1/2008 2:43 13:40 21h46m01s -13°47'35" 76°55'07" 1.000 30.25196
5/ 8/2008 2:16 13:13 21h46m21s -13°46'03" 83°37'13" 1.000 30.13518
5/15/2008 1:48 12:46 21h46m34s -13°45'02" 90°19'27" 1.000 30.01688
5/22/2008 1:21 12:18 21h46m42s -13°44'34" 97°01'54" 1.000 29.89871
5/29/2008 0:53 11:51 21h46m43s -13°44'37" 103°44'58" 1.000 29.78223
Planet Apsides Report for 2008
Mars
5/12/2008 Aphelion Distance from Sun: 1.67 AU
Planet Data Report
Planet Mean Dist Period of Inclination Equatorial
From Sun Revolution Diameter
(AU) (km)
Mercury 0.39 88 days 7° 4880
Venus 0.72 224.7 days 3.4° 12100
Earth 1.00 365.24 days 0° 12756
Mars 1.52 687 days 1.9° 6794
Jupiter 5.20 11.86 years 1.3° 143200
Saturn 9.54 29.46 years 2.5° 120000
Uranus 19.18 84 years 0.8° 52290
Neptune 30.06 165 years 1.8° 50450
Moon Apsides Report for 5/ 1/2008 to 5/31/2008
Date Hour Apsis Distance (km) Diameter
5/ 5/2008 22 Perigee 357789 0.5566°
5/20/2008 10 Apogee 406385 0.4901°
Moon Nodes Report for 5/ 1/2008 to 5/31/2008
Date Time Node Illuminated Fraction
5/12/2008 1:36 Descending 0.49
5/26/2008 16:44 Ascending 0.65
Meteor Showers Report for 5/ 1/2008 to 5/31/2008
Date Meteor Shower ZHR RA DEC Illum. Frac. Longitude
5/ 4/2008 eta-Aquarids 35 22h20m -1° 0.01 45°
5/11/2008 alpha-Scorpiids 5 16h04m -24° 0.46 52°
Information for this section is from Astronomy Lab 2.03
Last updated on Friday, May 02, 2008 9:39:13 AM