May 2024 – Events and Planet Finder Charts

Use the finder charts on this page to guide you to where to look for the planets in May 2024.

Don’t have a telescope to look at the planets or Moon? Remember you can contact your local astronomical society about holding a telescope viewing session for your school, youth group or other organisation.

A few pointers:

  • All planets visible to the unaided eye look like stars. Planets visible to the unaided eye include Mercury, Venus, Earth (look down!), Mars, Jupiter and Saturn.
  • Planet visibility in 2024
    • TimeandDate.com will generate customised visiblity information for your location. Just make sure you specify where you are.
    • You can download planet rise and set times for different Australian capital cities from Quasar Publishing’s site.
  • In a telescope, Uranus and Neptune are visible as tiny discs. The minor planet Pluto remains looking like a star in even the largest amateur telescope.
  • Stars are shown to magnitude 5 on the charts unless otherwise noted. This is a compromise between what you would see from the light polluted skies of a city (where you will see significantly less stars) and dark country skies (where you will see significantly more stars).
  • Unless otherwise noted, the finder charts are prepared for Wollongong, NSW. The charts will be useful for elsewhere in Eastern Australia including Canberra.
  • Planet finder charts usually focus on when the Moon is next to a particular planet. That lets beginning astronomers use the Moon as a ‘signpost’ to find that particular planet.

5 May 2024 – Lunar occulation of Neptune – Morning pre-dawn sky

Neptune emerging from behind the Moon finder chart. Note that Neptune is shown but not visible to the unaided eye. Large binoculars or a telescope will be required to locate Neptune. It will only appear as a tiny disc like object through a high powered telescope. Chart prepared for 3.56 am AEST on 5 May 2024 for #Wollongong NSW (but will be also useful for elsewhere in Eastern Australia). Chart created using the highly recommended Sky Safari 7 Pro app.

5 May 2024 – Moon, Mercury, Mars, and Saturn – Morning pre-dawn sky

Moon, Mercury, Mars and Saturn finder chart. Note that Neptune is shown but not visible to the unaided eye. Chart prepared for 5 am AEST on 5 May 2024 for #Wollongong NSW (but will be also useful for elsewhere in Eastern Australia). Chart created using the highly recommended Sky Safari 7 Pro app.

10 to 23 May 2024 – Record the changing appearance of the Moon – Evening twilight sky

An easy but rewarding observing activity is to record the changing appearance of the Moon between New Moon and Full Moon. If you observe it at the same time each evening (end of evening twilight), you will notice that the Moon moves from the West to the East. This movement demonstrates the Moon’s movement in it’s orbit around the Earth. Download the recording chart.

Download the full resolution version of the recording chart.