Astro Guide: May
Welcome Astrophotographers: what dates to keep an eye on this May!
May lacks the eclipses of April, but it still delivers some stellar photo-ops for observers in Eastern Australia. From a delicate crescent pairing with Mars to one of the Southern Hemisphere’s best meteor showers, plus dawn alignments with Saturn and Venus, you’ll find plenty of reasons to dust off your wide-angle and telephoto lenses this month. As before, this isn’t a definitive guide to astrophotography—if you need gear recommendations, check out our crash course on what you need for different shots here—but today we’re just giving you a brief overview of May’s highlight events for Australian skies.
May 3rd: Moon and Mars
On the evening of May 3, a 44 %-illuminated waxing crescent Moon will sit just over 2° from Mars in Cancer, creating a graceful duo low in the western sky after dusk. Mars will set around midnight AEST, so aim to shoot soon after sunset with a telephoto lens (200 mm+); exposures of 1–2 seconds will capture the Moon’s delicate limb without washing out Mars’s rosy glow.
May 5–6: Eta Aquariid Meteor Shower
The Eta Aquariids—debris from Halley’s Comet—peak in the pre-dawn hours of May 5 and 6, offering up to 50 meteors per hour under dark southern skies. Although the Moon wanes from a slim crescent, it sets before the best viewing window (approximately 3 am–5 am AEST), leaving a dark sky ideal for wide-angle, long-exposure shots that capture the shower’s swift, glowing streaks from the Aquarius radiant.
May 22nd: Moon and Saturn
In the early dawn of May 22, look low in the southeastern sky as a thin crescent Moon drifts within 3° of fainter Saturn in Pisces. Though best viewed before twilight, you can capture both bodies with a mid-telephoto lens (100–200 mm) and a 1–2 second exposure; even binoculars will reveal Saturn’s rings beside the lunar scythe.
May 23rd: Moon and Venus
The following morning, May 23, promises another dawn conjunction: the Moon (just 4 % lit) passes near brilliant Venus, only about 3° apart. Facing east around 4 am AEST, frame the pair against pale pre-sunrise colours—Venus’s intense brightness makes a striking counterpoint to the delicate lunar arc, whether you choose a telescope-mounted camera or a wide-angle composition.
Conclusion
A relatively calm month overall, May still serves up a blend of lunar-planetary pairings and a top-tier meteor shower for Australian skygazers. Whether you’re testing long exposures on the Eta Aquariids or zeroing in with a telephoto on lunar conjunctions, planning around these dates will help you capture some of the season’s most memorable celestial displays. Happy shooting beneath the Southern skies!