May 24
The Supergiant's Return
Sun Position
The Sun is in Gemini at about +20.9° declination. In the Northern Hemisphere, nights are short and midsummer approaches. Southern observers experience some of the year's longest and darkest nights.
Sky Highlight
Antares and the heart of Scorpius are now well placed for evening observing from southern and equatorial latitudes, rising in the southeast at dusk. From northern mid-latitudes they are visible low in the south in the late evening, best observed when they cross the meridian around midnight.
Deep Sky Object
M6 (NGC 6405), the Butterfly Cluster in Scorpius, about 1,600 light-years away. Its shape in binoculars or a wide-field telescope suggests a butterfly with open wings, and it contains a notable orange star, BM Scorpii, contrasting with the cluster's otherwise blue-white members. Best from southern and equatorial latitudes.
Featured Star
Antares (α Scorpii) reappears on tonight's chart, a red supergiant 550 light-years away, spectral class M1.5Iab-b. It has a smaller blue companion, Antares B, that is normally invisible in the glare but detectable during occultations by the Moon. The pair has likely been in their current configuration for millions of years, the blue companion orbiting deep within the red supergiant's extensive stellar wind.
Around This Date
- May 24, 1962Scott Carpenter completed the second American orbital spaceflight in Aurora 7, circumnavigating Earth three times before a control problem led to a 400-kilometer overshoot at splashdown.
- May 25, 1961President Kennedy announced the goal of landing a man on the Moon before the end of the decade, initiating the Apollo program and its associated burst of lunar science.
Even a supergiant has a companion, if you look through the right moment.