As warmer weather arrives and skies clear, now is the perfect time to plan your stargazing adventures.Whether you’re at home or on vacation, your location, specifically your latitude, considerably influences what you’ll see in the celestial sphere.

The sky encircles the entire Earth, but your latitude determines your view.The celestial equator,an imaginary line,divides the sky into northern and southern halves. In the northern hemisphere, Earth’s northern axis points towards Polaris, the North Star. This star remains fixed as Earth rotates,making it crucial for navigation. Its position changes based on your latitude.

For those in northeast Ohio, located at 41 degrees north latitude, the North Star appears 41 degrees above the horizon. This location offers seasonal views of all northern hemisphere constellations. Five constellations—Ursa Major, Ursa Minor, Cassiopeia, Cepheus, and Draco—are circumpolar, meaning they are visible all night, year-round, circling Polaris.

Latitude’s Impact on Celestial Views

• Traveling North: The farther north you go, the higher Polaris appears. At the North Pole, it’s directly overhead, and observers see the same northern sky all year.
• Heading South: Polaris descends towards the horizon, eventually sitting on it at the celestial equator. Here, all seasonal constellations in both hemispheres are visible, with no circumpolar constellations.
• Southern Hemisphere Outlook: South of the equator,northern constellations appear upside down. Such as, Orion, viewed southward in the northern hemisphere, appears in the north in the southern hemisphere, with its northern part closer to the horizon.
• 41 Degrees South: Observers at this latitude experience seasonal changes of all southern hemisphere stars, with Carina, Centaurus, and Crux being circumpolar.

Navigating the Southern Sky

At the South Pole, Crux, or the Southern Cross, serves as the southern hemisphere’s navigational tool. For detailed star maps,visit www.skymaps.com, offering resources for the northern hemisphere, equator, and southern hemisphere.

May’s Planetary Highlights

Planets and the Moon

may marks the farewell to Jupiter, setting around 11 p.m. on May 1 and 9:30 p.m. on May 31. The first week of May offers the best viewing opportunities. Jupiter, shining at a radiant -2.0 magnitude, remains in Taurus. Viewing Jupiter through a telescope during twilight is highly recommended.

A highlight this month is Mars pairing with the Beehive Star Cluster. Mars enters Cancer in early May, shining at 1st magnitude, and approaches within two degrees of the Beehive Cluster.binoculars provide a stunning view. On May 3, the crescent Moon joins the pairing, just two degrees from Mars. By May 4, Mars is less than one degree from the Beehive, best viewed with binoculars or a low-power telescope. Mars enters Leo on May 25 and pairs with Regulus on may 31.

In the morning sky,Venus and Saturn rise higher in the east before sunrise,visible by 5 a.m. Venus shines brilliantly at -4.7 magnitude.On May 1, saturn is four degrees south of Venus, at 1.2 magnitude, offering an engaging telescopic sight. Saturn’s rings appear edge-on, and Venus shows a crescent phase. The crescent moon pairs with Saturn on May 22 and Venus on May 23. By May 31, Saturn rises before 3 a.m., with Venus moving away from Saturn throughout the month.

Neptune is challenging to spot in early May but lies 1.6 degrees northeast of Saturn by month’s end, shining at 7.8 magnitude, best viewed through a telescope.

Mercury, at 0.1 magnitude,is very low in the eastern sky in early May,rising 50 minutes before the Sun,making it a challenging telescopic target. It disappears from view by the second week of May.

Uranus is not viewable this month.

National Astronomy Day is celebrated on May 3.

Night Sky Spotlight: Corona Borealis

This month’s highlight is the Northern Crown, or Corona Borealis, an easily recognizable semi-circle of stars in the eastern sky. alphecca, the brightest star in Corona, is 75 light-years from Earth. To locate Corona Borealis, face east and find Arcturus, a bright yellow-orange star. Then, look slightly down and to the left to find the semi-circle. Vega,a blue-white star,is the next bright star down and to the left,placing Corona between Arcturus and Vega.

Within Corona Borealis lies T Coronae Borealis (T CrB), nicknamed the “Blaze Star,” a rare recurrent nova 3,000 light-years away. Normally shining at magnitude +10,T crb is part of a binary system with a white dwarf and a red giant. The red giant sheds hydrogen onto the white dwarf, which ignites and explodes, brightening the star to 2nd magnitude, as bright as the North Star. this event is short-lived, lasting only a few days. Scientists predicted a supernova in September and November of last year and March of this year, but we are still waiting!

For more night sky details, maps, and audio, visit www.starrytrails.com.

Visit the Hoover Price Planetarium

For show dates and times, visit www.mckinleymuseum.org. Planetarium shows are free with museum admission. The planetarium is located inside the McKinley Presidential library & Museum, 800 McKinley Monument Drive NW in Canton. For more facts, call 330-455-7043.