Today:
The waxing Gibbous Moon is just one day from being Full, known in May as the “Flower” Moon. This is a great time to see one of the Moon’s prominent craters, Tycho. Binoculars show it near the bottom as a hub for a series of lines radiating outward, or “rays”, caused when a meteor crashed into the Moon 110 million years ago.
Friday:
Today is May Day, and is known in the Celtic tradition as Beltane, marking the traditional half-way point between the spring equinox and the summer solstice. These mid-points of the seasons are called “cross-quarter days”, as they are exactly between the “quarter days”, marking the beginning of each season. Typically, this celebration was tied to the Full Moon, which coincidently shines tonight as the Full “Flower” Moon.
Saturday:
Venus, the brightest nighttime object other than the Moon, continues to appear a little higher in the west as twilight fades. The other two brightest objects are Jupiter, much higher, and the star Sirius, lowering toward the southwest horizon. This trio forms an enormous triangle emerges near 8:45 PM, lowering in the darkening skies over the next hour, when Sirius gets ready to set.