"How To Find Virgo and Its Brightest Star Spica"

Scheduled air date: 1999 May 17-23

By following the arc of the Big Dipper's handle, the bright star Arcturus can be found.  Continuing on this arc, another bright star—Spica—can be found, and not far from it this month is the bright red-orange planet Mars!
(Shown about 10:00pm during the latter half of May for mid-Northern latitudes.)

Next week, the Moon will appear to pass near Mars and Spica, making an especially nice grouping on the evenings of May 25th and 26th.
(Shown about two hours after sunset, May 24-28, for mid-Northern latitudes.)

If you wish to view illustrations for other episodes, please see our Star Gazer Illustrated directory.

Illustrations on this page were created using TheSky Astronomy Software, an advanced desktop planetarium program designed for Windows. Copyright © 1999-2006 by Software Bisque, Inc.