On May 25 countless astronomers, scientists, and members of the public will breathlessly watch as another pieces of human technology sets down on our red neighbor, Mars. Joining the two rovers Spirit and Opportunity, the lander Phoenix will claim its spot on Mars’s north pole. Like the mythological bird it was named for, the Phoenix rose from the ashes of two previous, unsuccessful Mars missions. The spacecraft itself comes from the Mars Surveyor mission that was cancelled in 2001. It is small, only 18 feet across with its solar panels out, but the job scientists hope it will do is great.

The scientists who created the Phoenix have many goals for it. It is hoped that the lander will find more information that can lead to determining whether or not life ever arose on Mars. At Mars’s north pole there is believed to be something we’re very familiar with on Earth: water. The water on Mars will be so cold that it will be ice. The Phoenix will dig below the surface and run tests on whatever ice it finds there in order to learn more.

Through Phoenix's explorations astronomers will learn more about the climate and the geology of the planet and perhaps be able to determine if Mars is capable of supporting life. Once all this has been accomplished scientists will have information that will help them plan the best ways to send humans to explore Mars. This lander made up of parts that were thrown away will help pave the way for a new era of space exploration.

For much more information about the Phoenix lander and its plans for the future, please visit the official Phoenix mission site. This site has a great area for young astronomers as well.

Mercury two degrees south of the center of the Pleiades – Watch for this hard to spot planet on the western horizon!

Full moon; Omicron Cetid meteors – The full moon will make this already small meteor shower difficult to observe.

In Maine May is the month when spring really begins. It is the month when flowers start to bloom and trees become green again. Although it seems as though things are just starting in May, we’re actually reaching the middle point of the spring season. May first is known as a “cross quarter day.” Astronomically speaking, a cross quarter day is a day that falls exactly between an equinox and a solstice. This particular cross quarter day occurs between the spring solstice and the summer equinox.

A group of people dance around a Maypole

Cross-quarter days traditionally marked the beginning of a season. To the Irish and Scottish, the first day of May meant the beginning of the summer season and was celebrated by the festival of Beltane. Great fires were lit on mountaintops and boughs of trees were set up in yards and decorated with ribbons and flowers.

Today the first of May is celebrated as the end of the cold winter months and the beginning of the more temperate summer. Some traditions from older times still carry on today, including the idea of dancing around a May pole or leaving a basket of treats for a friend. This famous cross-quarter day reminds us of the importance of the sun. Without our star there would be no warmth in the summer, and without the way our planet moves there would be no change in seasons to celebrate.

Find out more about the May cross-quarter day in this Astro-Utah article.

Huge bonfires were lit to celebrate Beltane

As spring goes on the constellation of Bootes the hunter becomes more and more prominent in the northern sky. This constellation is easy to spot because of its bright star Arcturus. To find Bootes first find the Big Dipper. From the handle of the dipper trace an arc through the sky and stop at the first bright star you come to. This star is Arcturus, and makes the bottom of Bootes.

Traditionally Bootes is seen as a herdsman. The Greeks saw him as a keeper of Ursa Major, the bear that the Big Dipper is a part of. The bear was once a woman named Callisto.

Callisto was in love with Zeus, the king of the Gods. In order to protect her from his jealous wife, Zeus disguised Callisto as a bear. One day Callisto’s son came across his mother in the forest. Callisto was so excited to see her son that she called out to him, but all her son heard was a bear’s roar. Hoping to catch the bear, the son ran after his mother with an arrow drawn. Callisto was so frightened that she ran into the temple of Zeus, a place no one was allowed to enter. In order to protect Callisto from her punishment, Zeus put her in the sky. He put her son in the sky as well, as the constellation Bootes.

It is difficult for many people to see a herdsman when looking at Bootes in the sky. Because of this there are other shapes that Bootes is said to be. Some people see an ice cream cone, with Arcturus being the tip of the cone. Others see a kite in Bootes, with Arcturus as the bottom of the kite. Although it is important to keep in mind what the ancient people saw when looking at the sky, there is nothing wrong with seeing your own shapes in the stars.

Some people see Bootes as an ice cream cone

Of the planets that are visible from Earth without a telescope, Mercury is the one that often is overlooked. Having the disadvantages of being the smallest of the planets and the closest to the sun this rocky planet often slips below the horizon before the sky is dark enough to get a good look. This May, however, Mercury will stay above the horizon just long enough after dark for people in Maine to get a good look at it.

To find Mercury in May look at the western horizon around an hour after sunset. The less obstructed the horizon is (the less trees, buildings, and hills there are in the way), the better your view will be. Mercury will be at its brightest near the beginning of the month. Between the first and the second it will pass near the Pleiades, and on the sixth it will shine just below the two day old moon. On the fourteenth it will reach its greatest elongation. To understand what it means for Mercury to reach its greatest elongation, imagine you are in space looking down on the sun, Mercury, and the Earth. Draw a line from the Earth to the sun and another line from the Earth to Mercury. When the angle formed by those two lines is the biggest it can get, Mercury is at its greatest elongation. If we go back and look at Mercury from Earth, we’ll see that on the day it has its longest elongation it will rise the highest above the horizon.

By the end of the month tiny Mercury will no longer be seen above the horizon, so to see it act fast! You’ll need to be quick to see this fleeting planet, but don’t worry if you miss it! Just as all the planets do, Mercury will continue to orbit the sun and will eventually come back to a place where it can be seen from Earth.

For more about our smallest planet, visit Mercury's Nine planets page.