Stargazing Challenges - May 2025
- 24th Apr 2025
- Author: Dhara Patel
Each month, we'll be sharing a trio of stargazing challenges for you to try your hand at.
This May, we encourage you to catch the waxing crescent moon beside Mars, spot some meteors during the peak of the Eta Aquariid meteor shower, and find a familiar star pattern connecting three bright stars called the Spring Triangle asterism.
Challenge 1 - Moon and Mars
On 3 May, can you find Mars beside the Moon?
Wait until the Sun sets and look in the westerly direction around 22:00 to find Mars nestled beside the large waxing crescent moon on 3 May. Visible to the naked eye, they should be high enough in the sky to spot without tall trees and buildings blocking them from view. Sitting a little further below the duo will be the bright star Procyon in the constellation of Canis Minor.
As the Earth continues to spin on its axis, celestial objects in the sky will appear to drift westwards across the sky throughout the night. As such, the Moon and Mars will eventually set in the northwest around 2:00 the following morning, so be sure to catch the duo before then.
Allow your eyes to adapt to the dark by avoiding streetlights and the illumination from devices such as phones and tablets – 20 to 30 minutes minimum. While you can make out Mars’ reddish colour even on an initial glance, its rusty colour will become more obvious as your eyes become ‘dark adapted’.
Our vision is dependent on two types of cells in the retina of our eyes. Rod cells are able to pick up light in darker conditions so are responsible for allowing us to see at night. But they don’t allow us to see in colour – this explains why you may notice things tend to look black and white in low light conditions.
But cone cells which give us colour vision work best in bright light. As such, we have to allow time in dark conditions for the cone cells to become activated enough for them to give us some colour perception at night.
Challenge 2: Eta Aquariid meteor shower
On 5-6 May, can you catch some meteors from the Eta Aquariid meteor shower?
With fingers crossed for clear skies, look to the east during the early morning of 6 May to try and spot some of the Eta Aquariid meteors as the shower reaches its peak between midnight and dawn. Appearing as quick flashes of light streaking across they sky, meteors are caused by small pieces of space rock travelling through the Earth's atmosphere and heating up as they disintegrate.
These tiny fragments of space rock and dust are left behind by comets orbiting the Sun, and each year our planet ploughs through the trail of debris left by the comet on its previous encounters with our star. The Eta Aquariids originate from Halley’s Comet which takes approximately 76 years to complete an orbit. Though it last passed by the Sun in 1986, we still see this meteor shower each year due to the debris it has left behind. You can find out more in our blog: Eta Aquariid Meteor Shower 2025, and discover other annual meteor showers to look out for.
The peak meteor rate for the shower is up to 50 meteors per hour but as with all meteor showers, this ideal rate assumes clear, dark and moonless skies, with the radiant (the point in the sky where the meteors appear to come from) being located overhead. The reality is that we’ll see less than the peak rate, but they’re still worth looking out for – there’s something magical about spotting one!
To improve your chances, head away from urban areas filled with streetlights and light pollution, and find a location with clear views of the horizon to give you the widest view of the whole sky as possible. And have a little patience – once you’ve spotted one, you’ll want to stick around to see another!
Challenge 3 - The Spring Triangle
Are you able to spot the Spring Triangle asterism on 25 May?
On the late evening of 25 May, see if you can find the Spring Triangle asterism in the southwestern sky around 23:00. This easily recognisable star pattern is made by joining three bright stars, each belonging to a different constellation. Marking the bottom left corner is the star Spica in the constellation of Virgo, moving up you’ll find Arcturus in the constellation of Bootes, and continuing round in a clockwise direction, Denebola in the constellation of Leo completes the triangle of stars.
Spica, the brightest star in Virgo is actually a binary system – two blue-white stars, hotter than our Sun, that orbit each other every four days. Its name is derived from the Latin ‘Spica Virginis’ which means ‘the Virgin's ear of grain’, as Virgo is often depicted as a maiden holding a sheaf of wheat.
In comparison, Arcturus is a red giant star, and you should be able to make out the contrast in colour between it and Spica. Although cooler than our Sun (resulting in its orange-red appearance), Arcturus is 25 times larger than our Sun. So if placed in our Solar System, this star would likely engulf Mercury and the intense heat and radiation would cause devastation on Earth.
If you took part in our Stargazing Challenges - April 2025, then you may be familiar with the constellation of Leo the Lion. Denebola marks the star at the tail of Leo and is a relatively young star – just a few hundred million years old! Because this star spins so quickly (64 times faster than the Sun), it’s more of an oblate or egg-shape rather than a sphere – having a flattened shape and an equatorial bulge.
How did you get on? Were you able to spot our stargazing highlights this month?
If you enjoyed putting your stargazing skills to the test, then keep a look out for the astronomy challenges we'll be sharing each month. And don't forget to share your photos with us using #NSCstargazers
And find out what else you can see this month with our 'What's in the Night Sky' video.
Full references / credits:
(Banner) Skyscape. Credit: © National Space Centre
(1) Moon and Mars on 3 May. Credit: © National Space Centre
(2) Eta Aquariid meteor shower on 5-6 May. Credit: © National Space Centre
(3) Spring Triangle on 25 May. Credit: © National Space Centre
