Monday 24th to Sunday 30th May 2021.
The evening of Wednesday 26th sees the brightest and largest "Supermoon" of the year as the Full Moon will only be a few hours past perigee when it rises above the horizon a little before 11 pm. You'll need to be looking towards the south east.
A couple of days later, on Friday 28th, there is an opportunity to see the planets, Mercury and Venus, very close together. Look low on the horizon towards the north west just after sunset, but please make sure that the Sun has completely disappeared below the horizon if you are using binoculars or a telescope! Then look slightly higher, further west and you should also be able to catch Mars before it sets.
The end of May sees the beginning of the Noctilucent Cloud season. These are very high clouds in an area of our atmosphere called the Mesosphere. The clouds are composed of ice crystals and can sometimes be seen a little after sunset low above the north west horizon. They resemble thin Cirrus clouds and are normally a blue-silver colour, but can be orange-red in certain circumstances.
If you are planning to catch the Full Moon on Wednesday 26th, there is also an excellent opportunity to observe the International Space Station. You would need to be looking towards the north west at 10 pm and the ISS will take about 7 minutes to pass overhead before disappearing to the south east.
Screenshots courtesy of Stellarium
Copyright Adrian Dening and Radio Ninesprings 2021
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