Astronomy guide to the night sky May 2026
With the Newbury Astronomical Society
The chart above shows the night sky at 20:00 on 15th May 2026
(Click on the image above to enlarge and click away from the image to return here)
The chart above shows the night sky looking south at about 20:00 BST on 15th May. West is to the right and east to the left. The point in the sky directly overhead is known as the Zenith and is shown (in red) at the upper centre of the chart. The curved brown line across the sky at the bottom is the Ecliptic or Zodiac. This is the imaginary line along which the Sun, Moon and planets appear to move across the sky. The brightest stars often appear to form a group or recognisable pattern; we call these (Asterisms) Constellations.
Constellations through which the Ecliptic passes through this month are: Taurus (the Bull that is just off the right of the chart), Gemini (the Twins), Cancer (the Crab), Leo (the Lion), Virgo (the virgin) and Libra (the Scales).
Moving towards the western horizon is the constellation of Gemini (the Twins). The two brightest stars in Gemini are Castor and Pollux they are named after mythological twins. Jupiter is in Gemini this month making a bright triangle of stars with Pollux and Castor.
To the north-west of Gemini is the odd pentagon shape of Auriga (the Charioteer). Dominating Auriga is the brilliant white star Capella which will soon be directly overhead. For those with a telescope there is a line of lovely open clusters to search out in Taurus and Auriga. These are M35 in Taurus and M36, M37 and M38 in Auriga.
To the east (left) of Gemini is the rather faint but interesting constellation of Cancer (the Crab). There is a lovely open cluster known as Messier 44 (M44) also called Praesepe or the Beehive Cluster. It is best seen using binoculars. The stars are not so bright as Messier 45 (M45), the Pleiades in Taurus but they are lovely to see. They are said to resemble an old conical straw Beehive with a swarm of bees buzzing around.
To the southwest of Gemini (and moving over the south-west horizon) is one of the most recognised winter constellations called Orion (the Hunter). Orion is easily found by looking for the obvious line of three stars of his belt. Orion has his Hunting Dogs Sirius (the big dog) and Procyon (the little dog) to the east (left) and following him. Orion had dominated the evening sky with its well-known stars Betelgeuse and Rigel. Orion was the main feature in the April issue of this magazine and provides details of many of the interesting features of this fascination constellation. The greatest treasure to be found in Orion is undoubtably Messier 42 (M42) ‘The Great Nebula’ that is described in detail on pages 3 and 4 in the April issue of this magazine.
The constellation of Leo (the Lion) follows Cancer along the Ecliptic. It does look like a lion or the Sphinx in Egypt. Around and between Leo and the neighboring constellation of Virgo is a cluster of galaxies. Our Milky Way galaxy and our local group of galaxies are members of this larger group of galaxies called the Virgo Cluster. A medium-sized telescope (150mm to 200mm) and a dark sky are required to see these faint objects. The Virgo cluster of galaxies is part of an even larger super cluster.
Ursa Major (the Great Bear) is moving into its summer location, almost directly overhead and consequently close to the Zenith (the point directly over head of the observer). Ursa Major is one of the most familiar constellations and resembles a giant Saucepan. It appears very large and now dominates the night sky directly above our heads. The star Mizar, located in the handle of the saucepan asterism (shape), is interesting to see. A good ‘naked eye’ look will reveal a second smaller star, called Alcor that can be seen as a companion to Mizar. The Mizar star system is composed of six stars. Mizar is a double / double star and Alcor has a tiny Red Dwarf Star orbiting it.
The handle of the saucepan shape of Ursa Major can be used to identify an interesting and beautiful star. The ‘handle’ has an ‘arc’ shape (curved). We can project and follow the arc of the handle to find the star Arcturus in the constellation of Boötes. The shape (asterism) of Boötes is like the shape of an old fashion kite. Arcturus is at the bottom point of the kite shape, where the tail is fitted.
Arturus is a red giant star that was a star about the size of our Sun (1.05 x our Sun) and is 36.7 light years from us. It is older than our Sun, (about 7 billion years). It has started to deplete its Hydrogen fuel and is now expanded and has a diameter 25.4 times the diameter of our Sun.
WHERE TO FIND THE PLANETS THIS MONTH
MERCURY is too close to the Sun this month and will not be observable.
VENUS is moving out from behind the Sun after its Superior Conjunction (passing behind the Sun) but still appears close to the Sun and the western horizon. It will be visible brightly shining after sunset this month but will be close to the western horizon and in the bright sky post sunset sky.
MARS still appears to be located close to the Sun. It was at its Superior Conjunction with the Sun (passing behind the Sun) on 9th January and is not observable this month. Mars is still on the other side of the Sun from us and about 470 million km from us
JUPITER was at its Opposition (passing Earth with the Sun on the opposite of Earth) on 10th January when it was at its highest point above the southern horizon and due south at 01:30 GMT. Jupiter is still good for observing earlier each evening and is still high in the night sky and perfect for observing.
SATURN has now passed behind the Sun and is no longer observable. Saturn was in conjunction with the Sun on 25th March. It is now beginning to appear in the early morning sky before sunrise but is difficult to see.
URANUS is now drawing closer to the Sun and the western horizon. It is just about visible after sunset at the beginning of May. It is small and faint will not observable later this month as it is low and in the bright sunset sky.
NEPTUNE is following Saturn along the Ecliptic and was in conjunction, it will be appearing in the pre-sunrise morning sky later this year.
To see a full version of this article and a guide to the night sky with charts, read the monthly magazine on the Newbury Astronomical Society website at: Magazine May 2026
For details and directions visit the Newbury Astronomical Society website at: Home – Newbury Astronomical Society
Our next meeting will be at Stockcross Village Hall on Wednesday 20th May 2026, from 7pm until 9pm.
