Astronomical phenomena May 2016.

2016 is full of surprises for observers worldwide. A lot of events will take place this year from occultations to eclipses.

Take your binoculars or telescope from the closet, because surely, in 2016 you will not have too many pauses between the events that will unfold in the sky.

Astronomical Calendar May 2015 astronomical events.

May.
►01 May 2016 - Comet 302P / Lemmon PanSTARRS reaches perihelion, the closest position of the sun. It has a 12.6-year orbit. Its return was observed 5 times.
►01 May 2016 - Comet PanSTARRS (2015 D3) of perihelion, the closest position of the sun. It has an unknown orbit. Its return has not been observed.
►May 05, 06, 2016 - Eta Aquarid meteor shower. Eta Aquarids usually produce about 10 meteors per hour. The highest intensity usually take place on 5 and 6. The radiant point is the constellation Aquarius, and the meteors originates from Comet Halley. The best observations are usually to the east after midnight, away from city lights. This year, New Moon will make this event a favorable time for observation.
►06 May 2016 - Comet PanSTARRS (2015 B2) reaches perihelion, the closest position of the sun. It has an unknown orbit. Its return has not been observed.
►06 May 2016 - Luna reaches perigee, the closest point to Earth (357828 km from Earth) at 06:14.
►06 May 2016 - New Moon. The moon will be directly between the Earth and Sun and will not be visible from Earth. This phase occurs at 21:29.
►08 May 2016 - Aldebaran 0.5 ° S Moon at 10:21.
►09 May 2016 - Mercury at inferior conjunction at 17:00.
 ►09 May 2016 - rare transit of Mercury across the Sun's disk. The planet Mercury will pass directly between Earth and the Sun. Observers with telescopes and solar filters will notice Mercury as it moves across the face of the Sun. This is an extremely rare event that occurs only every few years. There will not be another transit until 2019 and the next will be in 2039. This transit will be visible from North America, Mexico, Central America, South America, and parts of Europe, Asia, and Africa.
►13 May 2016 - Comet 77P / Longmore reaches perihelion, the closest position of the sun. It has a 6.88-year orbit. Its return has been seen 6 times.
►13 May 2016 - the first quarter of the moon. at 19:02.
►19 May 2016 - Moon at apogee. The moon reaches the furthest point from the Earth (405934 km from Earth) at 0:06.
►21 May 2016 - Full Moon / Moon Blue. Earth will be between the Sun and Moon, and therefore, the Moon will be fully illuminated as seen from Earth. This phase takes place 23:15.
►24 May 2016 - Comet 224P / LINEAR-NEAT reaches perihelion, the closest position of the sun. It has a 6.31-year orbit. Its return was observed 2 times.
►26 May 2016 - Spacewatch Comet (2011 KP 36) reaches perihelion, the closest position of the sun. It has an orbit 238 years. Its return has not been observed.
►27 May 2016 - Comet Gibbs (2007 R3) reaches perihelion, the closest position of the sun. It has a 8.92-year orbit. Its return has been seen 1 times.
►29 May 2016 - the last quarter of the moon. at 14:12..
►31 May 2016 - Comet 136P / Mueller reaches perihelion, the closest position of the sun. It has a 8.62-year orbit. Its return was observed 3 times.
►31 May 2016 - Comet 216P / LINEAR reaches perihelion, the closest position of the sun. It has a 7.63-year orbit. Its return was observed 2 times.


Legend:
-Perihelion-position in the orbit of a planet closest to the Sun.
-Aphelion - position in the orbit of a planet farthest from the Sun.
-Perigee -  the position of the Moon closest to Earth.
-Apogee -  the position of the Moon farthest to Earth.
-Inferior Conjunction - Mercury or Venus passing between the Earth and Sun.
-Superior Conjunction - Mercury or Venus passes on the opposite side of the Sun from Earth.
-Greatest elongation - elongation is the angle between the Sun and a planet as seen from Earth, during eastern elongation (E), the planet appears as an evening star, during western elongation (W), the planet appears as a morning star.
-Opposition - position in the orbit of a planet when opposites the Sun as seen from Earth.
-Conjunction - position in the orbit of a planet when appears closer to the Sun as seen from Earth.
-Occultation - Moon occults or eclipses a star or a planet.
-Ascending Node - the point where a planet passes from the southern to the northern part of its orbit.
-Descending Node - the point where a planet passes from the northern to the southern side of its

Astronomical phenomena April 2016.

Posted in: Astronomical calendar 2016