May 2026 Calendar
At any moment of the day, countless awe-inspiring celestial events are unfolding in the sky. With a universe of options, it can be hard to pin down what to observe. The purpose of this calendar is to provide a peek into what’s happening in the sky and in the world of astronomy in general and provide a quick list of highlights that can jump start your own explorations.
All month: Go Galaxy Hunting in Virgo
For Northern Hemisphere viewers, galaxy season draws to a close this month. This means it’s a great time to do some serious galactic observing and imaging. One of the key constellations to point your rig to is the Virgo Constellation, which is rich with galaxies.
One of the Virgo constellation’s most dynamic deep sky treasures is the Sombrero Galaxy (Messier 104) located about 11.5° west of the blue-white beauty Spica, which is Virgo's standout star. Featuring between 1,200 to 2,000 globular clusters, this unbarred spiral galaxy has a bright bulging center ringed by a pronounced dark dust lane.
Astrophotographer Larry Byrge captured this image of the Sombrero Galaxy with the aid of an Explore Scientific ED102 Triplet Refractor.
The huge constellation is also home to the massive Virgo Cluster, which teems with a versatile mix of well over a thousand galaxies. Among its offerings are Messier 49, an elliptical galaxy with a 9.4 visual magnitude that makes it the cluster’s brightest member; Messier 87, a giant elliptical galaxy with a 9.59 visual magnitude that lies near Virgo’s border with the Coma Berenices constellation; Messier 58, a barred spiral galaxy; and the lenticular galaxies Messier 84 and Messier 86. The cluster also includes NGC 4567 and NGC 4568, which are colliding spiral galaxies; the Eyes Galaxies, which includes the barred lenticular NGC 4435 and the hard-to-categorize NGC 4438; the bright Messier 88 and Messier 90 spiral galaxies and the challenging Messier 91 barred spiral galaxy.
May 4 – Moon Gets Cozy With Antares
The waning gibbous Moon and the red supergiant Antares will be making a close pass on May 4th. Even though they do not really share celestial real estate, it will seem like they do as they move closer together in the night sky until they are visually separated by mere degrees. Lucky observers in some parts of South America – like Argentina and Chile - can actually witness the Moon occult, or pass in front of, the binary star system. Antares, which means “Rival of Mars” in Greek, is often mistaken for Mars due to its similar reddish hue. Generally identified as the 16th brightest star in the sky, Antares is an irregular variable with a red-orange glow that makes it truly pop. Closer observations with a moderate telescope could reveal its blue companion star, which can be highly challenging to discern.
May 5 - Eta Aquarids Meteor Shower Peaks
The annual Eta Aquarid meteor shower is set to peak in the pre-dawn hours of May 5th. The shower is caused by the Earth’s passage through debris left behind by the famous Halley’s Comet, which is also the source for another meteor shower - the Orionids - every October. Especially amazing for southern hemisphere observers, who could be treated to 30 or more meteors per hour, the Eta Aquarids appear to radiate from the Aquarius constellation. This year the bright waning gibbous Moon will wash out some of the show so if you can block out the Moon from your viewing field, you might have more luck. Although it radiates from Aquarius, observers should actually look at a dark patch of sky about 90 degrees away from the radiant point to see the most meteors. To view the Eta Aquarids meteors, all you need is your naked eye, a good place to lie down under an open sky and patience. And if you cannot make it out on May 5th, the day before and day after are still good viewing options!
May 13, 14 & 15 – Mars and Saturn Meet Up with the Moon in the Pre-Dawn Sky
Early risers will have a chance mid-month to catch a lovely meet-up of the thin crescent Moon, the reddish-hued Mars and the ringed-beauty Saturn in the eastern sky shortly before dawn. Between the two planets, Saturn will be the first to pop into view above the eastern horizon.
May 18-20 – Venus, Jupiter & the Moon
Near the middle of the month, three of the night sky’s brightest sights will appear near each other in the western sky shortly after sunset. Although this is a naked eye event, a telescope will be handy if you want to explore these solar system favorites a little closer. For example, since the Moon is in a waxing crescent phase, there should be some nice details of the lunar surface along the terminator line. In addition, a modest telescope turned toward Jupiter may reveal the giant planet’s impressive cloud belts, its turbulent Great Red Spot or any of the four Galilean moons. The twin stars of Gemini – Pollux and Castor – will also be in the neighborhood at the time of the meet-ups.
May 22 & 23 – Moon Points the Way to Regulus
The latter half of May brings a chance to see the waxing crescent Moon near Regulus - the brightest star in the Leo constellation. Spotting specific stars is always easier when you have the Moon as a nearby sky-mark. Boasting an apparent visual magnitude of 1.35, the blue-white Regulus anchors the sickle-shaped asterism that defines the head of the lion and is said to represent the beast’s heart. Although it appears as a single point of light to the unaided eye, Regulus is a multiple star system that can be at least partially resolved with large aperture binoculars.
May 31 – Blue Moon
The last night of May brings a Blue Moon. Although it has nothing to do with color, a Blue Moon is notable because it marks the rare occurrence of two Full Moons in the same month. In addition, the May 31st Blue Moon will also be the smallest Full Moon of 2026!
Astrophotographer James Gossage captured this image of NGC 4945 in the Centaurus constellation with the aid of an Explore Scientific FCD100 Series ED102 Air-Spaced Triplet Refractor.
CONSTELLATION SPOTLIGHT: Centaurus
Occupying a nearly 1,060 square degree area of celestial real estate and visible from 90° South to 25° North, the Centaurus Constellation is a southern hemisphere favorite that is ideally positioned for May viewing.
Ripe with impressive stellar offerings, Centaurus is home to two of the top 10 brightest stars in the sky - Alpha Centauri and Beta Centauri, which also act as pointers to the Crux or Southern Cross constellation. Known as the Foot of the Centaur, Alpha Centauri has an apparent visual magnitude of -0.27, which makes it an ideal starting point for a perusal of Centaurus. This triple star system includes a binary pair made up of the yellow-white Alpha Centauri A and the more orange Alpha Centauri B, which can be resolved in a small telescope or sizable binoculars, and the red dwarf Proxima Centauri, which is actually the nearest star to our solar system even though it is not visible to the naked eye. Beta Centauri is another multi-star system that includes a spectroscopic binary with a blue-white giant. Other star offerings include the orange giant Theta Centauri, the blue-white giant Epsilon Centauri that undergoes slight variations in brightness and the pulsating white dwarf BPM 37093.
Centaurus is also loaded with amazing deep sky treasures. One of the most prominent of these is the stunning Omega Centauri, which is one of the closest globular star clusters to Earth. Visible to the naked eye and great for binoculars, this large cluster is packed with millions of stars and features a very dense concentration at its core. The constellation is also home to a bevy of notable galaxies including Centaurus A (NGC 5128), a lenticular galaxy that is the fifth brightest galaxy in the sky and features a dust lane that pops in moderate-size telescopes; NGC 4945, a spiral galaxy with an apparent visual magnitude of 9.3 and NGC 4622, a face-on spiral galaxy with arms winding in two directions. A final deep sky object to be sure to check out is The Blue Planetary nebula, which appears as a blue disk in a small telescope and is also known as The Southerner.
WANT TO NAVIGATE THE NIGHT SKY WITH EASE?
The Tirion Double-Sided Multi-Latitude Planisphere is a comprehensive sky map for northern hemisphere stargazers located between the equator and latitude 60° north that makes it easy to identify what constellations and major celestial objects are up in your night sky based on the date and time.
This night sky guide, which features maps crafted by noted celestial cartographer Wil Tirion, uses a double-sided design to minimize the distortion that is inherent to any polar-centered projection. This design choice means observers can see truer representations of the constellations located outside the equator (noted by a green line) by simply flipping the planisphere over.
In addition to showcasing constellations, this planisphere indicates the location of notable variable stars, open clusters, nebulae and galaxies. Other features include a line representing the ecliptic, a faint blue band for the Milky Way and a magnitude scale that indicates the brightness of the stars that are shown.
This astronomy planisphere is made of durable plastic that easily wipes clean, and the rotating components are secured with sturdy brass rivets for smooth manipulation. Guidance for using your sky map is printed on the device for quick reference.