2024, May 13:  Moon Visits Beehive

May 13, 2024: The moon is near the Beehive star cluster after sundown.  Mars and Saturn shine during morning twilight.  Uranus is at solar conjunction.

The Beehive or Praesepe star cluster (National Science Foundation Photo)
Photo Caption – The Beehive or Praesepe star cluster (National Science Foundation Photo).

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by Jeffrey L. Hunt

Chicago, Illinois: Sunrise, 5:32 a.m. CDT; Sunset, 8:03 p.m. CDT.  Check local sources for sunrise and sunset times. Times are calculated by the US Naval Observatory’s MICA computer program.

Uranus at Solar Conjunction

Uranus, rings and Moons from NASA's Webb Space Telescope
Photo Caption – Uranus, rings and Moons from NASA’s Webb Space Telescope (NASA Photo)

Planet Uranus is at solar conjunction today.  The planet seems to move from the evening to morning sky.  Recently Jupiter was in the same binocular field with Uranus, providing a bright guide to the dim, distant world.

The Pleiades star cluster.
Photo Caption – The Pleiades star cluster. (U.S. Naval Observatory)

After Uranus reappears in the morning sky, Mars passes by on July 15th.  The pair is in the same binocular field of view beginning July 4th and ending July 26th.  Uranus is in the same binocular field with the Pleiades star cluster through their solar conjunction in 2027.

Summaries of Current Sky Events
Summary for Venus as a Morning Star, 2023-24

Here is today’s planet forecast:

Morning Sky

Morning Planets

2024, May 13: Mars and Saturn are in the eastern sky before daybreak.
Chart Caption – 2024, May 13: Mars and Saturn are in the eastern sky before daybreak.

Mars and Saturn are in the eastern morning sky before sunrise.  Saturn is easier to see each morning.  At one hour before sunrise, it is over 15° above the east-southeast horizon.  It is surprisingly dim, compared to Venus and Jupiter, although the Ringed Wonder is brighter than most stars this morning.

Mars is slightly brighter than Saturn, but it is still low in the eastern sky, over 20° to Saturn’s lower left. Marching eastward, the Red Planet continues to open a gap to a slower-moving Saturn.

At this hour, Mars is over 20° to Saturn’s lower left and less than 10° above the eastern horizon.

Mercury and Venus are west of the sun as well, but they are veiled in bright twilight.

Evening Sky

Jupiter

Jupiter's volcanically active moon Io casts its shadow on the planet in this dramatic image from NASA's Juno spacecraft. As with solar eclipses on the Earth, within the dark circle racing across Jupiter's cloud tops one would witness a full solar eclipse as Io passes in front of the Sun. (NASA Photo)
Photo Caption – Jupiter’s volcanically active moon Io casts its shadow on the planet in this dramatic image from NASA’s Juno spacecraft. As with solar eclipses on the Earth, within the dark circle racing across Jupiter’s cloud tops one would witness a full solar eclipse as Io passes in front of the Sun. (NASA Photo)

Jupiter is east of the sun, setting 16 minutes after nightfall. Its solar conjunction occurs in five days.  Like Venus and Mercury, the Jovian Giant is hiding in bright sunlight. This leaves the evening sky without one of the five bright planets.

Moon Visits Beehive Star Cluster

2024, May 13: After sundown, the waxing moon is in the west-southwest between Pollux and Regulus.
Chart Caption – 2024, May 13: After sundown, the waxing moon is in the west-southwest between Pollux and Regulus.

Tonight, at one hour after sundown, the waxing crescent moon, 36% illuminated, is over halfway up in the sky above the west-southwest horizon.  It is in front of Cancer, between Gemini’s Pollux and Leo’s Regulus.

The moon gently illuminates the terrestrial landscape and casts shadows.  It reaches its evening half-full phase, known as First Quarter, at 6:48 a.m. CDT on the 15th when the lunar orb is below the horizon in the Americas.

Moon visits Beehive
Chart Caption – 2024, May 13: Through a binocular, the moon appears near the Beehive star cluster.

Use a binocular to spot the Beehive star cluster, also known as the Praesepe or Manger, 3.1° to the moon’s lower left.  The cluster is visible in a dark sky without optical aid, but not likely this evening with the moon’s phase.

The Praesepe is nearly 600 light years away, about 200 light years farther than the famous Pleiades.  This cluster has stars that are not as bright as the more famous and closer stellar bundle.

Using the Manger moniker, notice two donkeys, Asellus Borealis and Asellus Australis, eating at the feeder.  Stars Eta Cancri (η Cnc on the chart) and Theta Cancri (θ Cnc) complete a lopsided box that makes the Crab’s body.

Tonight, the moon sets over six hours after sundown and after midnight.

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