TRAC Action Plan: May 2025

May 2025 Calendar

• Fri, 02 May Minor planet Vesta at opposition (mag. +5.7)
• Sat, 03 May Moon and Mars close to the Beehive Cluster
• Sun, 04 May First Quarter Moon
• Mon, 05 May Moon close to Regulus (Leo) at 18:00 (daytime)
• Fri, 09 May Moon close to Spica (Virgo)
• Mon, 12 May Full Moon
• Tue, 20 May Last Quarter Moon
• Tue, 27 May New Moon
• Thu, 29 May Moon forms an isosceles triangle with Castor and Pollux

Spring Stargazing

Please refer back to our April 2025 Action Plan.

Asteroid Vesta

Minor planet Vesta will be in opposition on 02 May 2025, reaching a peak brightness of mag. +5.6. That's roughly the same magnitude as Uranus, so it'll be rather difficult for us to locate it. Vesta will only appear as a faint dot through binoculars.

Image credit: Stellarium

We'll try to track the movement of Vesta over several nights during the first half of the month because that's the sort of thing we should be doing as amateur astronomers.

Please refer back to our April 2025 Action Plan.

Globular Cluster (M13)

Globular clusters are groups of stars that are packed closely together in space. Messier 13 (M13) is touted as the finest globular cluster in the northern sky. It was discovered in 1714 by Edmond Halley and consists of several hundred thousand stars.

It's located in the constellation of Hercules, as shown in the image below, and is also known as the "Great Globular Cluster in Hercules", the "Hercules Globular Cluster", or the "Great Hercules Cluster".

Image credit: Stellarium

We might need to use the GoTo to locate M13. This will be a good test to see how accurately the telescope is able to aim at a desired target.

More information:

• What's a globular cluster? (EarthSky)
• Messier 13 (SEDS Messier pages)
• Messier 13 - Image by Waid Observatory in Texas

Solar Observations

Sunspots and Solar Photography

We need some extra practice when it comes to photographing the Sun.

May is an excellent time to view the Sun from the UK. We might have already passed solar maximum, but there is talk of a double peak in solar output.

Planets

Mercury and Saturn are morning planets, but they're very low in the sky. Venus can be seen easily if you are awake at 05:30. Uranus and Neptune are not visible this month.

Mars

Mars (mag. +1.0) is now in the constellation of Cancer and will be close to the Beehive Cluster for a few nights at the beginning of May.

The Red Planet is visible all evening, but it's moving away from us and now appears quite small.

Jupiter

Jupiter (mag. -1.8) is now much lower in the evening sky and will set shortly after the Sun by the end of the month.

It might be possible for us to attempt to observe Jupiter's Great Red Spot (GRS) before the planet loses altitude.

Transit timings for the GRS are listed here:

• Jupiter GRS Transit Times - May 2025

Lunar Observations

May 2025 Lunar Calendar

• First Quarter Sun 04
• Full Moon Mon 12
• Last Quarter Tue 20
• New Moon Tue 27

One- or Two-Day-Old Moon

If you're interested in trying to spot the one-day-old Moon, Wed 28 May 2025 is your chance.

Refer back to the March 2025 Action Plan for more information.

Moon Conjunctions & Occultations

Conjunctions involving the Moon and a planet or a bright star, though common, always provide good photo opportunities.

Once again, the first half of the month offers a few celestial close encounters. Here's what we'll look out for:

We can have a go at seeing the bright star Regulus (Leo) in the daytime (18:00) on 05 May 2025 when it'll sit just south of the Moon.

Admin Tasks

New Designs

We will continue working on designing:

• Stickers
• Certificates for children
• Limited edition TRAC 2025 bookmark

Website Content

• We'll review the photos and videos taken in April 2025 and add the best ones to the website.
• The website still needs a "Gallery" page to showcase our best photos.
• We still need to create avatars to put alongside our names on the "Meet the Team" page.

TRAC Research

Topics we need to read up on:

• How to operate the Nikon D60 camera with the T-ring adapter
• How a pinhole camera works
• How best to use the SV105 Planetary Camera

Summary

Top Priorities for May 2025

In descending order of importance:

1. Vesta (Asteroid)
2. Spring Constellations
3. Sun Observations
4. Moon Conjunctions (Astrophotography)
5. One-day old Moon
6. Jupiter's GRS

May Astrophotography

Photography opportunities this month include:

1. The Sun (Sunspots and Limb Darkening)
2. Various Moon Conjunctions
3. Vesta (very difficult)
4. Globular Star Cluster M13
5. Jupiter's GRS (if we get perfect conditions)

See You Out There

The darkness is rapidly disappearing, but there's still chance for us to see our first asteroid and globular cluster this month.

Vesta is our main target because none of us have ever seen a minor planet before.

James M
TRAC Team Leader
01 May 2025 – Rainham, Kent