Tonight's Sky: Jupiter can guide you to the Beehive

Tonight – May 12, 2016 – it’ll be hard to miss dazzling planet Jupiter. In fact, Jupiter is very prominent on these May, 2016, evenings – even on a moonlit night. Meanwhile, you’ll have difficulty seeing the constellation Cancer the Crab on this night, because it’s faint … and the moon shines right in front of it.

However, once the moon drops out of the evening sky in the last week of May, 2016, Jupiter will serve as your guide to the Beehive star cluster – also known as Messier 44 – the crown jewel in the constellation Cancer the Crab.

As good fortune would have it, you can hop to the Beehive star cluster by using Jupiter and the star Regulus for months to come.

Despite the moon, you still might be able to make out the Beehive cluster through binoculars tonight.


Source: Earth Sky
Thu 12 May 2016 at 07:28