Monthly Observing Information
This page provides charts, and text concerning what is visible in the night sky during the month noted. All information is for Baton Rouge, Louisiana, but they can still provide useful information for most other areas of the U.S.A. Sky charts, Saturn ring plane, and Venus phase images are for Midnight, on the 15th day of the month. Sky charts are 100 degree field of view, and show objects down to 12th magnitude. Times in the text information are in 24 hour format and have been adjusted for Daylight Savings Time. Subtract 12 hours from those over 12 to get the equivalent PM. RA and DEC given are for Epoch 2000.
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Baton Rouge Clear Sky Clock
Click on image for more info and details. This clock is for the Baton Rouge area only.
Kisatchie Clear Sky Clock
Click on image for more info and details. This clock is for the Kisatchie area only.
May
Moon Calendar
Sky charts
Saturn’s Ring Plane
Venus Phase
Sun and Moon Rise and Set
Date Moonrise Moonset Sunrise Sunset Twilight Twilight ------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- 5/1/2018 21:26 07:40 06:21 19:43 04:54 21:11 5/2/2018 22:20 08:20 06:20 19:44 04:53 21:12 5/3/2018 23:12 09:04 06:19 19:44 04:51 21:13 5/4/2018 ------ 09:51 06:18 19:45 04:50 21:14 5/5/2018 00:01 10:39 06:17 19:46 04:49 21:14 5/6/2018 00:47 11:31 06:17 19:46 04:48 21:15 5/7/2018 01:30 12:23 06:16 19:47 04:47 21:16 5/8/2018 02:10 13:17 06:15 19:48 04:46 21:17 5/9/2018 02:47 14:11 06:14 19:48 04:45 21:18 5/10/2018 03:23 15:07 06:14 19:49 04:44 21:19 5/11/2018 03:58 16:04 06:13 19:50 04:43 21:20 5/12/2018 04:33 17:04 06:12 19:50 04:42 21:21 5/13/2018 05:10 18:05 06:12 19:51 04:41 21:22 5/14/2018 05:49 19:09 06:11 19:52 04:40 21:23 5/15/2018 06:31 20:15 06:10 19:52 04:39 21:24 5/16/2018 07:20 21:22 06:10 19:53 04:38 21:25 5/17/2018 08:13 22:26 06:09 19:54 04:37 21:26 5/18/2018 09:12 23:28 06:09 19:54 04:36 21:27 5/19/2018 10:15 ------ 06:08 19:55 04:36 21:28 5/20/2018 11:20 00:23 06:07 19:55 04:35 21:28 5/21/2018 12:24 01:13 06:07 19:56 04:34 21:29 5/22/2018 13:27 01:57 06:06 19:57 04:33 21:30 5/23/2018 14:28 02:36 06:06 19:57 04:33 21:31 5/24/2018 15:28 03:14 06:06 19:58 04:32 21:32 5/25/2018 16:26 03:49 06:05 19:58 04:31 21:33 5/26/2018 17:24 04:24 06:05 19:59 04:31 21:34 5/27/2018 18:20 05:00 06:04 20:00 04:30 21:34 5/28/2018 19:17 05:38 06:04 20:00 04:29 21:35 5/29/2018 20:12 06:17 06:04 20:01 04:29 21:36 5/30/2018 21:05 06:59 06:04 20:01 04:28 21:37 5/31/2018 21:56 07:45 06:03 20:02 04:28 21:37
Information and images in this section from The Sky6 Professional
Solar System Information
Planet View Info Report for 5/ 1/2018 to 5/31/2018
Mercury
Date Rise Set RA Dec Elongation Ill Fr DIST(AU)
5/ 1/2018 5:15 17:34 0h55m02s 2°46'20" 26°59'05" 0.458 0.85893
5/ 8/2018 5:11 17:46 1h26m06s 5°49'22" 25°27'29" 0.567 0.96986
5/15/2018 5:12 18:08 2h04m07s 9°49'17" 21°58'19" 0.680 1.08321
5/22/2018 5:19 18:38 2h49m29s 14°24'01" 16°41'14" 0.804 1.19168
5/29/2018 5:34 19:18 3h43m24s 19°02'45" 9°40'14" 0.928 1.27980
Venus
Date Rise Set RA Dec Elongation Ill Fr DIST(AU)
5/ 1/2018 7:53 21:53 4h22m54s 22°25'33" 27°05'39" 0.885 1.45020
5/ 8/2018 7:58 22:06 4h59m13s 23°51'23" 28°46'58" 0.868 1.41380
5/15/2018 8:05 22:18 5h36m00s 24°44'28" 30°27'09" 0.851 1.37500
5/22/2018 8:13 22:28 6h12m57s 25°03'08" 32°05'57" 0.831 1.33381
5/29/2018 8:23 22:36 6h49m41s 24°46'59" 33°42'56" 0.811 1.29035
Mars
Date Rise Set RA Dec Elongation Ill Fr DIST(AU)
5/ 1/2018 1:05 11:16 19h42m08s -22°41'23" 107°08'32" 0.882 0.84506
5/ 8/2018 0:50 11:03 19h55m49s -22°24'18" 110°45'44" 0.886 0.78834
5/15/2018 0:34 10:49 20h08m29s -22°08'06" 114°35'44" 0.891 0.73377
5/22/2018 0:18 10:33 20h19m57s -21°54'29" 118°41'12" 0.898 0.68170
5/29/2018 23:57 10:16 20h30m03s -21°45'08" 123°04'44" 0.906 0.63244
Jupiter
Date Rise Set RA Dec Elongation Ill Fr DIST(AU)
5/ 1/2018 20:11 6:59 15h09m08s -16°20'31" 171°07'38" 1.000 4.41265
5/ 8/2018 19:39 6:29 15h05m35s -16°06'25" 178°18'44" 1.000 4.40002
5/15/2018 19:07 5:58 15h02m01s -15°52'14" 173°20'25" 1.000 4.40216
5/22/2018 18:36 5:28 14h58m33s -15°38'29" 165°47'47" 0.999 4.41898
5/29/2018 18:04 4:58 14h55m18s -15°25'39" 158°16'57" 0.999 4.44995
Saturn
Date Rise Set RA Dec Elongation Ill Fr DIST(AU)
5/ 1/2018 23:56 10:13 18h38m35s -22°14'35" 121°39'42" 0.998 9.51940
5/ 8/2018 23:27 9:44 18h37m48s -22°15'19" 128°37'38" 0.998 9.42384
5/15/2018 22:59 9:15 18h36m42s -22°16'22" 135°38'44" 0.999 9.33711
5/22/2018 22:30 8:46 18h35m19s -22°17'41" 142°42'33" 0.999 9.26065
5/29/2018 22:01 8:17 18h33m41s -22°19'14" 149°48'31" 0.999 9.19568
Uranus
Date Rise Set RA Dec Elongation Ill Fr DIST(AU)
5/ 1/2018 5:49 18:43 1h49m19s 10°41'37" 11°24'01" 1.000 20.87798
5/ 8/2018 5:22 18:17 1h50m48s 10°49'54" 17°47'18" 1.000 20.84921
5/15/2018 4:56 17:52 1h52m16s 10°57'55" 24°10'12" 1.000 20.80778
5/22/2018 4:29 17:26 1h53m40s 11°05'35" 30°32'48" 1.000 20.75420
5/29/2018 4:03 17:00 1h55m00s 11°12'50" 36°55'13" 1.000 20.68925
Neptune
Date Rise Set RA Dec Elongation Ill Fr DIST(AU)
5/ 1/2018 3:50 15:23 23h09m24s -6°25'45" 54°43'24" 1.000 30.51344
5/ 8/2018 3:23 14:56 23h10m01s -6°22'09" 61°20'33" 1.000 30.41369
5/15/2018 2:56 14:29 23h10m33s -6°19'06" 67°57'54" 1.000 30.30726
5/22/2018 2:28 14:02 23h11m00s -6°16'36" 74°35'29" 1.000 30.19562
5/29/2018 2:01 13:35 23h11m21s -6°14'43" 81°13'19" 1.000 30.08037
Pluto
Date Rise Set RA Dec Elongation Ill Fr DIST(AU)
5/ 1/2018 0:51 11:08 19h31m46s -21°28'36" 109°19'05" 1.000 33.20673
5/ 8/2018 0:23 10:40 19h31m37s -21°29'34" 116°08'32" 1.000 33.10111
5/15/2018 23:51 10:12 19h31m21s -21°30'46" 122°58'11" 1.000 33.00172
5/22/2018 23:23 9:44 19h31m00s -21°32'10" 129°47'54" 1.000 32.91011
5/29/2018 22:56 9:16 19h30m34s -21°33'44" 136°37'30" 1.000 32.82769
Planet Apsides Report for 2018
Venus
5/15/2018 Perihelion Distance from Sun: 0.72 AU
Planet Conjunction/Opposition Report for 5/ 1/2018 to 5/31/2018
Jupiter
Date Hour Event
5/ 8/2018 19 Opposition
Planet Data Report
Planet Mean Dist Period of Inclination Equatorial
From Sun Revolution Diameter
(AU) (km)
Mercury 0.39 88 days 7° 4880
Venus 0.72 224.7 days 3.4° 12100
Earth 1.00 365.24 days 0° 12756
Mars 1.52 687 days 1.9° 6794
Jupiter 5.20 11.86 years 1.3° 143200
Saturn 9.54 29.46 years 2.5° 120000
Uranus 19.18 84 years 0.8° 52290
Neptune 30.06 165 years 1.8° 50450
Pluto 39.44 248 years 17.2° 2200-2300
Moon Apsides Report for 5/ 1/2018 to 5/31/2018
Date Hour Apsis Distance (km) Diameter
5/ 5/2018 19 Apogee 404456 0.4924°
5/17/2018 16 Perigee 363777 0.5475°
Moon Nodes Report for 5/ 1/2018 to 5/31/2018
Date Time Node Illuminated Fraction
5/ 7/2018 5:23 Descending 0.58
5/20/2018 8:12 Ascending 0.30
Meteor Showers Report for 5/ 1/2018 to 5/31/2018
Date Meteor Shower ZHR RA DEC Illum. Frac. Longitude
5/ 5/2018 eta-Aquarids 35 22h20m -1° 0.71 45°
5/12/2018 alpha-Scorpiids 5 16h04m -24° 0.09 52°
Twilight Report for 5/ 1/2018 to 5/31/2018
Date Sun Astronomical Nautical Civil
Rise Set Begin End Begin End Begin End
5/ 1/2018 6:21 19:43 4:50 21:14 5:21 20:43 5:52 20:12
5/ 8/2018 6:15 19:48 4:42 21:21 5:14 20:48 5:45 20:17
5/15/2018 6:10 19:52 4:35 21:27 5:08 20:54 5:40 20:23
5/22/2018 6:07 19:57 4:30 21:34 5:04 21:00 5:36 20:27
5/29/2018 6:04 20:01 4:25 21:39 5:00 21:05 5:33 20:32
Information for this section is from Astronomy Lab 2.03
Last updated on Tuesday, May 1, 2018, 12:48 PM.