Weather | Sports | Forums | Comics | Classifieds | Calendar | Movies

Comets may be in your future

Dual comets may grace our skies this month, creating a rare opportunity for sky watchers. Both comets were discovered with automated survey programs that watched the heavens in 2001 and 2002. The most promising of the two is comet NEAT, which will be brightest early in the month, when it will rise above the southwest horizon; it will be high in the west (near the Big Dipper) at month's end. Try to find it on Thursday, when the moon won't be shining.

Comets' magnitudes are extremely difficult to predict, and to view them best one needs as dark a sky as possible. I suspect this comet will be easy to see with the naked eye, at least during the first three weeks of May, but binoculars will enhance your viewing pleasure.

Comet LINEAR will present more of a challenge. At the start of May, it is just over the eastern horizon at dawn. It will then be lost in the sun's glare, only to reappear at dusk in the west-southwest horizon near the end of the month (and into June).

Late in the month at dusk, NEAT is high in the west, while LINEAR is low in the west-southwest. With luck (and binoculars) you may get to see both comets at once. If you look in the planetariums listing sky calendar below, you will find that the St. Petersburg Astronomy Club and local planetariums are offering many opportunities to see these comets.

Venus shines its brightest on Sunday, clearly dominating the heavens in the west-northwest at dusk. Our "evening star" is at its highest and brightest during the first week of May and will set some four hours after dusk. Venus then begins to fall closer to the horizon and lose brightness, until it sets about an hour after dusk at the end of May. It will finally move between us and the sun on June 8 and cross the face of the sun. The last time this occurred was in 1882. Catch Venus to the lower right of a thin crescent moon after sunset on May 21.

During the first three weeks of May, Venus, Mars and Saturn form an almost diagonal straight line in the west-northwest. Look for a much dimmer orange-reddish Mars to the upper left of Venus and a yellowish, brighter Saturn to the upper left of Mars. Mars is just to the right of Saturn from May 21 to May 23, and by month's end it is directly above Saturn. With each night, Mars and Saturn are moving closer to the horizon at dusk. The crescent moon is above the Saturn-Mars pairing on the evening of May 22.

At nightfall Jupiter is high in the south, easily the second-brightest starlike object in the sky. Jupiter is near the moon on the evenings of May 26 and May 27. Both Jupiter and Saturn are worth being viewed through a telescope.

Look low to the eastern horizon just before dawn during the middle of May to locate Mercury. It will be near a very thin crescent moon on the mornings of May 16 and May 17, and it may be difficult to find.

Boca Ciega Millennium Park: The St. Petersburg Astronomy Club will set up telescopes to catch a comet at this new park in Seminole (12410 74th Ave. N) at dusk on May 22. Come only if the skies are clear.

Great Explorations: Great Explorations 1945 Fourth St. N in St. Petersburg is offering its "Great Space" Comet Watch on May 13 from 8 to 11 p.m. Additional dates may be offered if the comet is spectacular. Call (727) 821-8992 or visit www.greatexplorations.org.

Gulfport: If the skies are clear, enjoy SideWalk Astronomy when the St. Petersburg Astronomy Club sets up telescopes at the corner of Beach Boulevard and 31st Avenue S at dusk on Friday and May 15.

Science Center of Pinellas County: The Science Center (7701 22nd Ave. N.) in St. Petersburg is open on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Planetarium shows are at 11:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m., with a laser show at 2 p.m. The facility will be closed May 29.

The St. Petersburg Astronomy Club will meet at 8 p.m. on May 28.

Learn how to build a telescope at the ongoing classes on Saturdays from noon to 4 p.m. in the optical laboratory in the annex building behind the main building. Visit www.telescopelab.com for information. Call (727) 384-0027 or visit www.sciencecenterofpinellas.com St. Petersburg College: The college planetarium at the St. Petersburg campus (Fifth Avenue and 69th Street N) will offer free planetarium shows on Friday nights at 7 and 8:15. Because no classes are being held that week, there will be no planetarium show May 14. When skies are clear, telescopes will be set up after the shows. Call (727) 341-4320.

Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI): The planetarium is showing "More Than Meets the Eye." The Challenger Learning Center continues "Journey to Mars." The IMAX Dome Theater presents Disney's Sacred Planet, which offers some of the most stunning sights on our planet. Last showings of Titanica and Ghosts of the Abyss are on May 31.

The astronomy club M.A.R.S. offers free telescope viewing today and May 29 at dusk, weather permitting. Call (813) 987-6100 or visit www.mosi.org for more events.

TODAY - Free telescope observing at MOSI at nightfall. Venus, Mars and Saturn form a diagonal line in the west after dusk through May 17. Comet LINEAR may be visible low in the east at dawn during the first three days of May.

SUNDAY - Venus is at its brightest this month.

TUESDAY - Full moon. Total lunar eclipse on the other side of the Earth.

WEDNESDAY - Comet NEAT may be seen 10 degrees to the left of Sirius (the brightest star in the sky), low in the southwest after dusk. It will move higher in the sky each evening. Jupiter is stationary among the fixed stars. Venus reaches its most northern point in the sky in over a century. Expect it to set after 11 p.m. in the northwest.

THURSDAY - Comet NEAT is its closest to the Earth, at 30-million miles. Look for it 10 degrees to the upper left of Sirius, low in the southwest after nightfall. Moon is closest (perigee) at 223,575 miles.

FRIDAY - Gulfport SideWalk Astronomy viewing, if the skies are clear, at dark.

MAY 9-MAY 10 - The brightest star to the left of Saturn is Procyon. Look for comet NEAT to the left of Procyon after nightfall.

MAY 11 - Last quarter moon.

MAY 13-MAY 15 - Comet NEAT to the left of Castor and Pollux after nightfall.

MAY 13 - "Great Space" Comet Watch at Great Explorations from 8 to 11 p.m.

MAY 14 - This Friday only there will be no planetarium show at St. Petersburg College. Mercury at its greatest angular distance from the sun, 26 degrees.

MAY 14-May 15 - Comet NEAT near the Beehive star cluster at dark.

MAY 15 - Gulfport SideWalk Astronomy viewing, if the skies are clear, at dark. Comet NEAT nearest the sun at 89-million miles.

MAY 16 - Very thin crescent moon to the upper right of Mercury. Both are very low to the east a half hour before dawn.

MAY 19 - New Moon. Comet LINEAR closest to the Earth at 25-million miles.

MAY 20-MAY 23 - Mars is just to the right of Saturn. Mars is much dimmer than Saturn.

MAY 21 - Crescent moon to the upper left of Venus in the west-northwest after dark. Moon at its greatest distance (apogee) of 252,440 miles.

MAY 22 - Sky Watch at Boca Ciega Millennium Park at dusk if the skies are clear. Saturn, Mars and the crescent moon form a tight group at dark in the west-northwest.

MAY 24 - Mars and Saturn closest together in the night sky at 1.6 degrees.

MAY 25 - Mars just north of Saturn in the west-northwest after dusk.

MAY 26 - Comet LINEAR may be visible low in the west-southwest at dusk into June. Jupiter to the left on the moon after dark. The bright star below the moon is Regulus.

MAY 27 - First-quarter moon. Jupiter to the lower right of the moon after sunset.

MAY 28 - IMAX theater at MOSI starts Adrenaline Rush: The Science of Risk. The St. Petersburg Astronomy Club meets at 8 p.m. at the Science Center of Pinellas County.

MAY 29 - Telescope observing only under clear skies at MOSI at dusk. Science Center of Pinellas County closed today.

MAY 31 - Comet LINEAR should be visible above the west-southwest horizon after dusk during the first half of June.

Daryl L. Schrader is an astronomy and mathematics professor at St. Petersburg College and teaches astronomy at the University of South Florida.