This is the Saint Louis Science Center’s NIGHT SKY UPDATE for the week of Friday, May 20, 2022.
Information updated weekly or as needed.
Times given as local St. Louis time which is Central Daylight Time (CDT). For definitions of terminology used in the night sky update, click the highlighted text. If relying on times posted in Universal Time (UT), St. louis is -5 hours when CDT.
Public Telescope Viewings
With the changing recommendations from the CDC regarding COVID-19, conversations regarding the return of star parties at the Saint Louis Science Center have begun. We are close to bringing back our public telescope viewings, but a few details still need to be worked out. We will post future updates as we learn more about when we can bring back telescope viewings.
Observing Highlight of the Week
The motion of the naked eye planets seen from May 29 to June 18, 2022. The planets seen from east to southeast are Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. Image created using Stellarium.
The parade of planets we have enjoyed in the southeast before sunrise this year continues as Mars and Jupiter will pair up on May 29, 2022. Mars and Jupiter will exhibit both a conjunction and appulse at the end of this week. The conjunction occurs before the pair rises for us in St. Louis. The appulse will occur about 15 minutes before sunrise and will be visible from St. Louis. An appulse is when two or more astronomical objects appear close together. In the case of Mars and Jupiter, on May 29, 2022, the two planets will appear 0.56° apart at 5:26 a.m. CDT. In this scenario, you should be able to see both planets together with a telescope using low magnification. It will be somewhat dependent on the focal ratio of your telescope.
After May 29, 2022, Jupiter will rise before Mars and the order of planets seen from east to southeast will be Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. Our morning planet parade will be at its best in June this year when Mercury joins the other planets in the morning sky around mid-June. As we enter summer this year, Saturn and Jupiter will become evening targets, but for now, the planets remain visible in the early morning sky.
The Sun and Moon
The Moon as seen from the International Space Station, on July 31, 2011.
Credit: NASA
Sunrise is at 5:45 a.m. on Friday, May 20 and sunset is at 8:10 p.m. providing us with roughly 14.5 hours of daylight. Even after sunset, the light from the Sun will dimly illuminate our sky for roughly 1 hour and 50 minutes. This period is called twilight, which ends around 10:00 p.m. this week. For those with a sundial, local noon occurs around 12:57 p.m. this week.
| Day | Sunrise | Sunset |
|---|---|---|
| 2022-05-20 | 5:45 a.m. | 8:10 p.m. |
| 2022-05-21 | 5:44 a.m. | 8:11 p.m. |
| 2022-05-22 | 5:43 a.m. | 8:12 p.m. |
| 2022-05-23 | 5:43 a.m. | 8:13 p.m. |
| 2022-05-24 | 5:42 a.m. | 8:14 p.m. |
| 2022-05-25 | 5:41 a.m. | 8:14 p.m. |
| 2022-05-26 | 5:41 a.m. | 8:15 p.m. |
| 2022-05-27 | 5:40 a.m. | 8:16 p.m. |
| 2022-05-28 | 5:40 a.m. | 8:17 p.m. |
Moon
Moonrise for the night of Friday, May 20 occurs after midnight at 12:35 a.m. and moonset will occur at 11:33 a.m. the following day. On Friday, May 20, the Moon will exhibit a waning gibbous phase with 71% of the lunar disk illuminated. Last quarter moon occurs on May 22, 2022, at 1:43 p.m.
International Space Station (ISS) Observing
Visible passes of ISS from St. Louis for the week of May 20 occur during morning and evening hours. The best passes occur on the evening of May 27 and 28. Use the table below for information about these and other visible passes this week.
Catch ISS from St. Louis starting Friday, May 20
| Date | Starts | Max. altitude | Ends | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Time | Alt. | Az. | Time | Alt. | Az. | Time | Alt. | Az. | ||
| 20 May | -0.8 | 00:11:30 | 10 | NNW | 00:12:35 | 13 | N | 00:12:35 | 13 | N |
| 22 May | -0.6 | 00:11:44 | 10 | NNW | 00:12:32 | 14 | NNW | 00:12:32 | 14 | NNW |
| 22 May | -1 | 23:24:01 | 10 | NNW | 23:26:04 | 17 | NNE | 23:26:04 | 17 | NNE |
| 23 May | -0.9 | 22:36:21 | 10 | NNW | 22:38:01 | 13 | NNE | 22:39:37 | 10 | NE |
| 24 May | -0.5 | 00:12:07 | 10 | NW | 00:12:31 | 13 | NW | 00:12:31 | 13 | NW |
| 24 May | -1.4 | 23:24:14 | 10 | NW | 23:26:04 | 24 | N | 23:26:04 | 24 | N |
| 25 May | -1.8 | 22:36:25 | 10 | NNW | 22:39:06 | 22 | NNE | 22:39:37 | 21 | NE |
| 26 May | -1.2 | 21:48:37 | 10 | NNW | 21:50:50 | 16 | NNE | 21:53:03 | 10 | ENE |
| 26 May | -1.5 | 23:24:39 | 10 | NW | 23:26:05 | 23 | NW | 23:26:05 | 23 | NW |
| 27 May | -1 | 21:00:53 | 10 | NNW | 21:02:30 | 13 | NNE | 21:04:07 | 10 | NE |
| 27 May | -3 | 22:36:37 | 10 | NW | 22:39:40 | 49 | NNE | 22:39:40 | 49 | NNE |
| 28 May | -2.3 | 21:48:40 | 10 | NW | 21:51:42 | 31 | NNE | 21:53:16 | 20 | ENE |
| 28 May | -1 | 23:25:30 | 10 | WNW | 23:26:11 | 14 | W | 23:26:11 | 14 | W |
Magnitude (Mag): The Measure of brightness for a celestial object. The lower the value is, the brighter the object will be.
Altitude (Alt): The angle of a celestial object measured upwards from the observer’s horizon.
Azimuth (Az): The direction of a celestial object, measured clockwise from an observer’s location with north being 0°, east being 90°, south being 180° and west being 270°.
For information about ISS flyovers and other visible satellites, visit www.heavens-above.com
Detailed information regarding all unmanned exploration of our universe, missions past, present, and planned, can be found at Jet Propulsion Laboratories:
The Visible Planets
Looking southeast at 5:00 a.m. May 21, 2022. Credit: Stellarium, EG
This week, four naked eye planets are visible. Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn are seen in the east and southeast before sunrise.
Venus
Venus has started a morning apparition and will be seen in the southeast before sunrise. Venus rises at 4:06 a.m. and should be easy to spot in the southeast by 5:00 a.m. The current morning apparition lasts until the third week of October 2022. Venus reaches superior conjunction on October 22, 2022.
Mars
A new apparition for Mars has begun. Mars rises at 3:06 a.m. Start looking for Mars around 4:00a.m. as it clears trees and buildings. Mars will continue to climb out of the Sun’s glare as it heads towards opposition later this year on December 7, 2022.
Jupiter
Jupiter rises at 3:14 a.m. and should be visible by 4:15 a.m. As the year goes on, Jupiter will rise about 20 minutes earlier than it did the week before. Jupiter will reach opposition on September 26, 2022, so our best views of this giant world will come at the end of summer and through the fall months.
Saturn
Saturn rises at 1:42 a.m. Start looking for Saturn around 2:40 a.m. in the southeastern sky. Saturn will reach opposition on August 14, 2022. As we head to this date, Saturn will rise earlier each day.
James S. McDonnell Planetarium
Night Sky Update: May 20 – May 28, 2022