Sky ArchiveTonight

1st quarter moon and Regulus May 21

Tonight – May 21, 2018 – the half-lit first quarter moon passes 1.5 degrees (3 moon-diameters) north of Regulus, the brightest star in the constellation Leo the Lion. Nearly everyone worldwide can use the moon to find the star Regulus on this night.

Just look for the moon in the evening sky. The nearby bright star will be Regulus.

There’s little chance of mistaking another star for Regulus, because Regulus is the only bright object within a stone’s throw of the May 21 moon. Still, you’ll find two much-brighter “stars” in the May 21 sky. A long jump to the east (toward the sunrise direction) is a planet, giant Jupiter. It’s the second-brightest starlike object in the May evening sky. And the brightest starlike object? That would be Venus, now sitting in the west at nightfall and early evening, setting not long after the sun.

You should start to notice for the moon in the vicinity of Jupiter beginning around May 25.

The moon reaches its half-illuminated first quarter phase on May 22 at 3:49 UTC (translate to your time). Although the first quarter moon happens at the same instant worldwide, the hour differs by time zone. Here, in United States time zones, the first quarter moon comes on May 21, at 11:49 p.m. EDT, 10:49 p.m. CDT, 9:49 p.m. MDT and 8:49 p.m. PDT. A first quarter moon rises around noon, and sets around midnight, as seen from around the world.

Want to know the exact phase of the moon at present? Click here. Want to know which constellation the moon is moving in front of right now? Click here.

Sky chart of the constellation Leo the Lion
Chart of the constellation Leo via the IAU. The ecliptic depicts the annual pathway of the sun in front of the constellations of the zodiac. The sun passes in front of the constellation Leo each year from around August 10 to September 17, and has its yearly conjunction with the star Regulus on or near August 23.

No matter where you live worldwide, the moon always moves eastward relative to backdrop stars (and planets) of the zodiac. That’s in spite of the fact that the moon and Regulus move westward across the sky (like the sun in daytime) because of the Earth’s rotation. That eastward motion of the moon relative to the backdrop stars is caused by the moon’s orbit around Earth. Starting tonight and over the next several days, you can notice the orbital motion of the moon as it keeps traveling eastward of the star Regulus.

Bottom line: Tonight – May 21, 2018 – the first quarter moon pairs up with the star Regulus, the brightest star in the constellation Leo the Lion.

Posted 
May 21, 2018
 in 
Sky Archive

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Bruce McClure

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