{"id":3087,"date":"2025-05-01T00:24:46","date_gmt":"2025-05-01T00:24:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/?p=3087"},"modified":"2025-05-01T00:24:46","modified_gmt":"2025-05-01T00:24:46","slug":"griffith-observatory-sky-report-through-may-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/2025\/05\/01\/griffith-observatory-sky-report-through-may-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Griffith Observatory Sky Report through May, 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Click<\/strong><\/a>LISTEN to this week\u2019s Sky Report<\/p>\nhttps:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/May_2025_Sky_Report.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

This is the Griffith Observatory Sky Report for the period between May 1 and May 31, 2025. Here are the events happening in the sky of southern California.<\/p>\n

Mercury<\/strong> rises in the east at 5:06 a.m., PDT, on the 1st<\/sup>, and the sun rises at 6:03 a.m., PDT, 57 minutes later. The planet spends the entire month of May close to the sun, and it is not safe to observe it. Do not observe any planet when it comes close to the sun, for the danger to the eyes is great.<\/p>\n

Venus<\/strong> rises in the east at 4:09 a.m., PDT, on the 1st<\/sup>, one hour 54 minutes before the sun rises. The planet is 29-percent illuminated and 36-arcseconds wide. On the 31st<\/sup>, Venus rises in the east at 3:27 a.m., PDT, and the sun rises at 5:43 a.m., PDT, two hours 16 minutes later. Venus is 49-percent-illuminated and 24-arcseconds wide.<\/p>\n

Mars<\/strong> moves from Cancer the Crab to Leo the Lion on the 25th<\/sup>. On the 1st<\/sup>, the sun sets at 7:38 p.m., PDT, and Mars sets in the west-northwest at 1:52 a.m., PDT. The planet is 90-percent illuminated and 6.6-arcseconds wide. On the 31st<\/sup>, the sun sets at 7:59 p.m., PDT, and Mars sets in the west-northwest at 12:39 a.m., PDT. The planet is 91-percent illuminated and 5.6-arcseconds wide. A telescope with a magnification of 200x is needed to see the disk. On Saturday evening, the 3rd<\/sup>, the large open star cluster Messier 44 (M44) is 33 arcminutes south of Mars, and the moon is two degrees 30 arcminutes east-northeast of Mars. All three are nearly overhead at 8:00 p.m., PDT. Binoculars are needed to see M44. Griffith Observatory and the Los Angeles Astronomical Society will host a star party. The public can view this conjunction through the supplied telescopes. On the evening of the 4th<\/sup>, M44 is 40 arcminutes south of Mars.<\/p>\n

Jupiter<\/strong> is in Taurus the Bull. On the 1st<\/sup>, Jupiter sets in the west-northwest at 10:45 p.m., PDT, and is 33-arcseconds wide. On the 31st<\/sup>, the planet sets in the west-northwest at 9:16 p.m., PDT. A telescope capable of magnification 50x will show the Red Spot, and the four bright Galilean moons also can be seen moving back and forth, across and behind Jupiter.<\/p>\n

Saturn<\/strong> is in Pisces the Fishes. On the 1st<\/sup>, Saturn rises in the east at 4:15 a.m., PDT. On the 31st<\/sup>, the planet rises at 2:24 a.m., PDT, and is 16-arcseconds wide. The rings and Saturn\u2019s largest moon, Titan, may be seen with a telescope capable of magnification 50x.<\/p>\n

Uranus<\/strong> sets in the west-northwest at 8:46 p.m., PDT, one hour eight minutes after the sun sets. The planet remains close to the sun for the rest of the month and it is not safe to observe it. Do not observe any planet when it comes close to the sun, for the danger to the eyes is great.<\/p>\n

Neptune<\/strong> is in Pisces the Fishes. On the 1st<\/sup>, Neptune rises in the east at 4:20 a.m., PDT, and on the 31st<\/sup>, the planet rises in the east at 2:24 a.m., PDT, and is 2.2-arcseconds wide. On the 15th<\/sup>, Neptune is at Right Ascension 0h<\/sup> 7m<\/sup> 31s<\/sup>, declination -0\u00b0 35\u02b9 10\u02ba. A telescope with a magnification of 200x is needed to see its disk.<\/p>\n

The first quarter moon occurs on the 4th<\/sup>, full moon on the 12th<\/sup>, last quarter on the 20th<\/sup>, and new moon on the 26th<\/sup>.<\/p>\n

SPECIAL EVENTS<\/strong><\/p>\n

Lunar-X<\/strong> is visible for a few hours on the 4th<\/sup>, starting at 6:35 p.m., PDT. Lunar-X is a feature on the first quarter moon just within the dark half of the moon and midway between the center point and the southern edge. It is due to the rims of two craters illuminated by the sun. A telescope with a magnification of 50x or more is needed to see it.<\/p>\n

In the major lunar standstill of 2024-2025,<\/strong> the May northernmost moon occurs twice. The first occurs when the waxing crescent moon rises on the 1st<\/sup>, at 9:12 a.m., PDT, and sets on the 2nd<\/sup>, at 12:37 a.m., PDT. The moon is two days from first quarter.<\/p>\n

The second occurs when the waxing crescent moon rises on the 28th<\/sup>, at 6:52 a.m., PDT, and sets on the same date at 10:22 p.m., PDT. The moon is only two days past new moon, and observations will be difficult.<\/p>\n

The May southernmost moon also occurs twice.<\/p>\n

The first occurs when the waning gibbous moon sets on the 14th<\/sup>, 6:51 a.m., PDT, and rises on the same date at 10:12 p.m., PDT. The moon is two days past full phase.<\/p>\n

The second occurs when the waning gibbous moon sets on the 15th<\/sup>, at 7:40 a.m., PDT, and rises on the same date at 11:06 p.m., PDT. The moon is three days past full phase. Griffith Observatory will broadcast the southernmost moonrise on May 14 but has no plans for public events or web broadcasts for the other May standstills.<\/p>\n

For details on the major lunar standstill, please visit the website at https:\/\/griffithobservatory.org\/extreme-moon-the-major-lunar-standstills-of-2024-2025\/<\/a><\/p>\n

The eta Aquariid meteor shower<\/strong> will occur from the night of April 20 through May 21. The meteors come from comet Halley. They are named for the star in Aquarius the Water Bearer, from which they appear to originate. The shower is best seen from the southern hemisphere. From the northern hemisphere, it usually produces medium rates of 10 to 30 meteors per hour just before dawn. The meteors are swift with a high percentage of persistent trains but few fireballs. The peak occurs from the evening of the 3rd<\/sup> through the morning of the 4th<\/sup>. The first quarter moon, 44-percent illuminated, will not interfere with observations after midnight.<\/p>\n

Follow All Space Considered and Griffith Observatory on Facebook<\/a>, Instagram<\/a>, YouTube<\/a>, and Twitter<\/a> for updates on astronomy and space-related events.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

LISTEN to this week\u2019s Sky Report https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/May_2025_Sky_Report.mp3 This is the Griffith Observatory Sky Report for the period between May 1 and May 31, 2025. Here are the events happening in the sky of southern California. Mercury rises in the east … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3087","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-skyreport"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3087","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3087"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3087\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3090,"href":"https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3087\/revisions\/3090"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3087"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3087"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3087"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}