On the morning of May 14, the thin waning crescent moon will shine near Mars and Saturn. Look for them about 45 minutes before sunrise. Saturn will rise first in the eastern morning twilight. Below it in the bright twilight will be the fainter planet Mars. Chart via EarthSky.
On the morning of May 15, about 30 minutes before sunrise, the very thin waning crescent moon will lie above the horizon and near Saturn and Mars. Chart via EarthSky.
May 16: New supermoon
The moment of new moon will fall at 20:01 UTC on May 16, 2026. That’s 3:01 p.m. CDT. This is the 2nd of 5 new supermoons in a row. The new moon will be 222,819 miles (358,594 km) away.
The moon will reach perigee – its closest point to us in its elliptical orbit around Earth – at 14 UTC on May 17, 2026. Then it’ll be 222,497 miles (358,075 km) away from Earth.
May 17-20 (Northern Hemisphere): Moon, Venus, Jupiter!
The day after new moon – as seen from the Northern Hemisphere – a razor-thin young moon will appear low in the west after sunset. This is a great time of year to see young moons low in the western sky. Blazing Venus will be above the moon on May 17. And bright Jupiter will be above Venus. Don’t miss these next few evenings! And keep an eye on these planets, the two brightest planets visible from Earth. They will be only 3-moon-widths apart around June 8 and 9. Spectacular! Chart via EarthSky.Wow! Here’s the Northern Hemisphere view of the young moon and blazing Venus – the brightest planet – on May 18, 2026. Look west shortly after sunset. Jupiter, the 2nd-brightest planet, will be above them. So beautiful! Chart via EarthSky.This is a great time of year to see planets in the west after sunset from the Northern Hemisphere. On May 19, 2026, the waxing crescent moon will lie between Venus and Jupiter. Watch for them in the west shortly after sunset. They’ll all set around midnight. Chart via EarthSky.On May 20, 2026, the waxing crescent moon will float close to Jupiter (2nd-brightest planet) and above brilliant Venus (brightest planet). It’ll be a beautiful evening scene. Look west shortly after the sun goes down. By the way, Venus and Jupiter are inching closer together on the sky’s dome. Their conjunction will fall around June 8 and 9. See the chart below! Chart via EarthSky.On June 8 and 9, 2026, the 2 brighest planets – Venus and Jupiter – will have a spectacular conjunction! They’ll be approximately 3-moon-widths apart (roughly 1.5 degrees).
Our charts are mostly set for mid-latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere. To see a precise view – and time – from your location, try Stellarium Online.
May 22 and 23 evenings: Moon, Regulus and the Sickle
On the evening of May 22, the waxing crescent moon will be near Regulus, the brightest star in Leo the Lion. Regulus is the bright dot at the bottom of a backward question-mark pattern of stars known as the Sickle. Then on May 23, the 1st quarter moon will lie beside the Sickle. They’ll set after midnight. Chart via EarthSky.
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Lorraine Boyd captured this view from New York on November 9, 2024. She wrote: “Peeking through tree limbs at the first quarter moon (50% illumination), just after sunset.” Thank you, Lorraine. This month’s moment of 1st quarter moon will fall at 11:11 UTC on May 23, 2026. That’s 6:11 a.m. CDT. A 1st quarter moon rises around noon your local time and sets around midnight. Watch for a 1st quarter moon high in the sky at sundown.
Venus is the brightest planet in Earth’s sky. And Jupiter is second-brightest. About every three to five years, these two blazing worlds come together in Earth’s sky in a way that’s truly spectacular. They’re gearing up to do that now. Their conjunction will be around June 8 and 9. And, when closest, their distance on our sky’s dome will be roughly the width of your pinky finger held at arm’s length. Start watching them now!
All-sky chart showing bright Jupiter and even-brighter Venus after sunset. You can’t miss these 2 worlds. They outshine all the stars! They’ll have a spectacular close encounter in June. Chart via EarthSky.Marcy Curran submitted this image taken on May 12, 2026, from Wyoming. Marcy wrote: “Venus and Jupiter are inching closer as shown here on our all-sky camera. On May 12, Venus and Jupiter were 30.5 degrees apart at that time. I hope to catch them occasionally as they gradually move toward each other over the next few weeks. Around June 8, they’ll be approximately 3 times the width of a full moon apart. Watch for future updates when I get some more shots of them.” Thank you, Marcy.
This all-sky chart shows Mars and Saturn are low in the east shortly before sunrise in mid-May. As the month proceeds, Saturn will rise more quickly than the slowly ascending Mars. This will create a greater distance between them in the morning sky. Note that these planets lie along the path the sun travels in the daytime (the green line on our chart). Chart via EarthSky.
May 26 and 27 evenings: Moon near Spica
Late on the evenings of May 26 and 27, the waxing gibbous moon will be close to Spica, the brightest star in Virgo the Maiden. The star might be hard to see in the moon’s bright glow. They’ll set several hours after midnight. Chart via EarthSky.
May 28 and 29 evenings: Moon near Antares and Zubenelgenubi
In the late evening hours of May 28 and 29, the bright waxing gibbous moon will shine near Antares and the star with the strange sounding name, Zubenelgenubi. Antares is the brightest star in Scorpius the Scorpion. And Zubenelgenubi is the brightest star in Libra the Scales. Chart via EarthSky.
May 30-31 overnight: Full Blue Moon and smallest full moon of 2026
At sunset on May 30, the full Blue Moon will rise in the east close to the bright red star Antares, the brightest star in Scorpius the Scorpion. The crest of the full moon falls at 8:45 UTC on May 31. That’s 3:45 a.m. CDT. So, it’s almost as full when it rises in the east after sunset on May 30 and May 31. Plus it’s the second of three full micromoons – or most distant full moons – in a row in 2026. In fact, it’ll be the smallest full moon of 2026. It’ll be 252,360 miles (406,135 km) away. The average moon distance is 238,900 miles (384,472 km) away. Chart via EarthSky.
May stars
If you’re out stargazing on any May evening, look for these stars and constellations overhead in the sky.
On May evenings, the Big Dipper is high overhead in the sky. The Big Dipper is an asterism – a well know pattern of stars – in the constellation of Ursa Major the Great Bear. It’s handy to locate the North Star, Polaris. And you can use the Big Dipper to locate Leo the Lion. Draw an imaginary line southward from the pointer stars in the Big Dipper – the 2 outer stars in the Dipper’s bowl – to point toward Leo the Lion. The brightest star in Leo is Regulus.On May evenings, near your zenith – overhead in the sky – you’ll see Leo the Lion. There are 2 main shapes that make up Leo. First are the stars that form a backward question mark representing Leo’s head. This is also known as the Sickle. The bright star Regulus is the period at the bottom of the backward question mark. The second shape is the triangle that represents the Lion’s hindquarters. Scan Leo with even a medium-sized telescope and you’ll spy some of the dozens of galaxies in this region of the sky. Chart via EarthSky.The Spring Triangle is an asterism with 3 bright stars at its corners: Arcturus, Spica and Regulus. All 3 stars are in different constellations. Regulus is in Leo the Lion. Arcturus is in Boötes the Herdsman. And Spica is in Virgo the Maiden. But some stargazers see a smaller triangle of stars. This trio of stars consists of Arcturus, Spica and Denebola, a star in Leo. Image via EarthSky.
Our charts are mostly set for the northern half of Earth. To see a precise view – and time – from your location, try Stellarium Online.
May evening planets
Brilliant Venus lies above the western horizon as darkness falls. Bright Jupiter shines higher in the sky. Throughout the month, the 2 planets will move closer to each other. They will have a spectacular close encounter around June 8. They’ll be about 9 degrees apart at the end of May. And both of them will set before midnight by month’s end. Chart via EarthSky.As darkness falls, Jupiter will shine brightly high in the western sky. And it’ll be near the twin stars of Gemini, Castor (the slightly dimmer one) and Pollux (the slightly brighter one). The moon and Jupiter will make a lovely pair on May 20. Jupiter and Venus will be inching closer to each other all month and will make a spectacular pair in the evening sky around June 8. Jupiter will set around midnight by month’s end. Chart via EarthSky.For viewers in the Northern Hemisphere, on the last few days of May, little Mercury will appear in the bright evening twilight low above the western horizon. Brilliant Venus and bright Jupiter will shine nearby. Mercury will reach its greatest distance from the sun on June 15. Chart via EarthSky.For viewers in the Southern Hemisphere, on the last few days of May, little Mercury will appear in the bright evening twilight low above the western horizon. Brilliant Venus and bright Jupiter will shine nearby. Mercury will reach its greatest distance from the sun on June 15. Chart via EarthSky.
May morning planets
In the first half of May, Saturn will sit low in the bright eastern twilight shortly before sunrise. And, nearby and closer to the horizon, look for the dimmer planet Mars. In the second half of May, Saturn will pull away from Mars, and Mars will slowly climb higher behind it. Chart via EarthSky.
Sky dome map for visible planets and night sky
Here is the sky dome view for May 2026. It shows what is above the horizon at mid-evening for mid-northern latitudes. The view may vary depending on your location. Image via Guy Ottewell’s 2026 Astronomical Calendar.
Bottom line: Visible planets and night sky guide. Tomorrow before sunrise, the thin waning crescent moon will hang close to Mars, faint in the morning twilight, with brighter Saturn nearby.
Meet Marcy Curran, our voice of the night sky on EarthSky YouTube. Check out her popular short videos in the Sky category on our YouTube channel. When she's not making videos, Marcy is an EarthSky editor, helping to keep our night sky guide up-to-date and just generally helping to keep the wheels turning around here. Marcy has enjoyed stargazing since she was a child, going on family camping trips under the dark skies of Wyoming. She bought her first telescope in time to see Halley’s Comet when it visited the inner solar system in 1986. She co-founded her local astronomy club and remains an active board member. Marcy taught astronomy at her local community college for over 20 years. She and her husband live in Wyoming, in a rural location, with an all-sky camera and super-good horizon views! And, their observatory will soon be ready to photograph the night sky.
“I can sometimes see the moon in the daytime” was a cosmic revelation that John Jardine Goss first discovered through personal observations at age 6. It shook his young concept of the universe and launched his interest in astronomy and stargazing, a fascination he still holds today. John is past president of the Astronomical League, the largest U.S. federation of astronomical societies, with over 24,000 members. He's earned the title of Master Observer and is a regular contributor to the video series, “Global Star Party.” He has authored the celestial observing guides “Exploring the Starry Realm,” and “Carpe Lunam,” and “Take Your First Steps, an Introduction to Amateur Astronomy.” John also wrote for twenty years the monthly stargazing column, Roanoke Skies, for the Roanoke Times, and currently writes a bimonthly column, Skywatch, for Blue Ridge Country magazine. He has contributed to Sky and Telescope magazine, the IDA Nightscape, the Astronomical League’s Reflector magazine, and the RASC Observer’s Handbook.
Deborah Byrd (asteroid 3505 Byrd) helps edit EarthSky.org and is a frequent host of EarthSky videos. Deborah created the EarthSky radio series in 1991 and founded EarthSky.org in 1994. Prior to that, she had worked for the University of Texas McDonald Observatory since 1976, and created and produced their Star Date radio series. She has won a galaxy of awards from the broadcasting and science communities, including having an asteroid named in her honor in 1990, a Public Service Award from the National Science Board in 2003, and the Education Prize from the American Astronomical Society in 2020. A science communicator and educator since 1976, Byrd believes in science as a force for good in the world and a vital tool for the 21st century. "Being an EarthSky editor is like hosting a big global party for cool nature-lovers," she says.
Kelly Kizer Whitt - EarthSky’s nature and travel vlogger on YouTube - writes and edits some of the most fascinating stories at EarthSky.org. She's been writing about science, with a focus on astronomy, for decades. She began her career at Astronomy Magazine and made regular contributions to other outlets, including AstronomyToday and the Sierra Club. She has nine published books, including a children's picture book, Solar System Forecast, and a young adult dystopian novel, A Different Sky.
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