The May Sky

As winter approaches and the nights tend to be clearer and colder, the night sky shines brightly. The planets Venus, Saturn and Mercury shine at dawn in the constellation Pisces. Jupiter, in Taurus, and Mars, moving from Cancer to Leo, rise after sunset.

The Moon begins the month in a waxing phase, reaching full on the 12th and waning until new on the 27th. At dusk, in the west, the constellation of Taurus with Aldebaran, an orange star, and the Pleiades star cluster, known by Brazilian Indians as “swarm of bees” or by people from the northeast as “seven stars”.

Also the constellation of Orion, the hunter, with its giant stars, Betelgeuse (red) and Rigel (white), in addition to the Three Marys that point to Sirius, the brightest star in the sky.

The stars Castor and Pollux in the constellation Gemini precede Cancer, with faint stars, and to the east Leo and Virgo. Scorpius rises in the east around 9 p.m. and remains in the sky all night. To the south is the Southern Cross, which guides navigation in the southern seas and is easily recognizable by its shape and the different-colored stars that make up the beautiful Jewel Box star cluster; the constellation Centaurus with Rigel Kentaurus, the closest star to the Sun.

Also the constellation of Carina, with its star Canopus, the second brightest in the sky. Free from chemical and light pollution, the nights in Cunha favor celestial observations.

As part of its Autumn and Winter Night Season, the Parque Solar will hold a lunar observation event on the 2nd and 3rd, focusing on its craters and seas, and on the 24th another focused on deep sky observation, where constellations, stars and star clusters are highlighted.

02/05 and 03/05 - Moon in the Park

Schedule:

4:00 pm – Earth Trail

5:00 pm – Sun Square

5:30 pm – Lighting the fire on the winter pyre

5:40 pm – Beginning of observation of the moon with a telescope

6:00 pm – Lecture – Moon: formation and main characteristics

7:00 pm – Lecture – Moon: formation and main characteristics

8:00 pm – Lecture – Moon: formation and main characteristics

9:00 pm - Closing

05/24 - Deep Sky in the Park

Schedule:

6:30 pm – Lighting the fire on the winter pyre

7:00 pm – Sky display with green laser pointer and telescope

8:00 pm – Sky exposure with green laser pointer and telescope

9:00 pm - Closing