Celestial Events: What To Expect This May

The sky is going to be full of wonder this May, as the month offers two lovely gifts for budding astronomers. Two planetary sightings will be seen from Earth - something that has not happened in the last decade.

Do you know which two celestial events are occurring this month? https://t.co/4D89Wydtpu pic.twitter.com/aUGfohr8sV

— Science in School (@SciInSchool) May 4, 2016

On May 9, Mercury will transit (cross in front of) the sun's disk and will be visible across North America. Later in the month (May 22), the yellow-orange Mars will make its closes approach to Earth since 2005 -- and will attain a dazzling minus 2 magnitude.

To understand the luminosity of celestial bodies, the moon shines at a magnitude of minus 13, Venus at minus 4, and Jupiter at minus 2. The lower the magnitude, the brighter the object, as noted by Space.com.

Jupiter is visible at dusk in early May, but as the month progresses, Mars will rise earlier and earlier after sundown, until it becomes evident in the east-southwest region after twilight.

EarthSky.org noted that once Mars and Saturn are up, they're going to be up for most of the night and near each other, getting brighter and brighter. Mars is expected to be at its brightest in late May, while Jupiter will be at its peak in early June.

Venus, despite being the brightest planet, will be lost in the glare of sunrise - at least in May.

Before the celestial bodies appear in the sky, however, the Eta Aquarids meteor shower will be at its peak overnight on May 5. The Orlando Sentinel said that these are meteors left over from the Comet Halley's passing of Earth. The southern hemisphere star gazers can see 30-60 meteors per hour during the peak of the shower, just before dawn. For the Northern Hemisphere viewers, there would be about 10 meteors per hour.