Night Sky Photography -- 05-07-2020 -- Full Flower Supermoon & Venus With Constellation Auriga

Good evening fellow stargazers!

Tonight I thought I would travel one town over to neighboring Richburg, South Carolina and get a shot of the last supermoon of 2020 rising in the east over the town. 

I was able to capture three shots: the first of the moon just over SC Highway 9, the second in the same spot with the brightness adjusted to get a better shot of the surface of the moon itself, and finally one gorgeous close-up of the surface of the full moon itself.

The May full moon is also known as the Full Flower Moon, or Milk Moon.

Tonight Venus can be seen on the outer edge of the Constellation Auriga, in the middle of a sort of upside-down obtuse triangle with the bright stars: Betelgeuse, Capella, and Aldebaran.

Betelgeuse is usually the tenth-brightest star in the night sky and, after Rigel (which cannot be seen in the photo) is the second brightest in the Constellation Orion. Capella, in the Constellation Auriga, is the sixth-brightest star in the night sky, and the third-brightest in the northern celestial hemisphere after Arcturus and Vega. Aldebaran is the brightest star in the Constellation Taurus and the fourteenth-brightest star in the night sky. 

I was able to capture all of the major stars of the Constellation Auriga, and the top of the Constellation Orion and outline them in the photograph, however most of the stars in the Constellation Taurus were too low in the horizon and faint to clearly capture, although Aldebaran cam out clear enough.

The month of May will be the last full month that the bright planet Venus will appear in the western evening sky for the year 2020.

On June 3, Venus will swing between the Earth and sun in its orbit, reaching the point called inferior conjunction by astronomers. Afterwards it will transition over to the eastern sky before sunup.

Throughout the month, Venus will be falling lower toward the sunset while the small planet Mercury will be rising in the western evening sky. On Thursday, May 21, 2020, the two inner planets will be within one degree of one another in conjunction. I'm hoping to get a few good shots of that -- clear skies willing. 

Well I hope y'all enjoyed my evening photos. I hope to have more in the near future, but until then have a wonderful Dixie evening, and keep your eyes to the night skies, y'all!