Artemis II recap and what's up in the May 2026 Skies? Part 1

Send us Fan MailMay 2026 is an exciting time for astronomy, both in the sky above us and in space beyond Earth. In this episode, we take a look at the planets visible this month and recap the successful Artemis II mission, which has just returned astronauts from a journey around the Moon for the first time in over 50 years.We’ll walk through what you can expect to see in the evening and morning skies, including a beautiful mid-month alignment of the Moon, Venus, and Jupiter, along with a helpful guide to spotting Mars and Saturn in the predawn sky.On the space news side, we break down the Artemis II mission from launch to splashdown, highlight what was learned during the flight, and look ahead to what comes next in NASA’s Artemis program.Beginning this month, “What’s Up in the Month’s Sky” is now a two-part series. In Part 1, we focus on planets and space news. In Part 2, we shift back to observing with the Lunar Feature of the Month and a deep sky tour.We’re also updating the monthly Sky Guide. It will now include detailed planetary data along with information on all of the deep sky objects covered each month, and will be available both as a web page and as a downloadable PDF. More details on that coming in the next episode.Whether you're observing with binoculars or a telescope, or simply stepping outside to take a look, May offers plenty to enjoy.Don’t forget to like and subscribe, your support helps bring astronomy to more people every month.Contact: [email protected]/Voicemail: (973) 404-0380If you enjoy the episode, please subscribe, comment, and share, and leave a review on your favorite podcast platform. Carpe Noctem!Links:Feel free to buy us a cup of coffee or two! We really appreciate it!https://tinyurl.com/AstroGuyCoffeeOur Facebook group page: / astroguypodCranford TV-35: https://www.cranfordnj.org/tv-35Our “Astronomy Basics” episode: • Astronomy BasicsThe “Great Astronomers” Playlist: • The Great AstronomersThe Full Episode Guide of DSO’s sorted by Catalog Name: http://tinyurl.com/AGFullGuideAffiliate LinksHigh Point Scientific: https://www.highpointscientific.com/?...Amazon: https://amzn.to/4gFQmOGAudio Credits:Hymn to the Dawnby Scott Bucklyewww.scottbuckley.com.auMusic promoted byhttps://www.chosic.com/free-music/all/Creative Commons CC BY 4.0Creative Commons CC BY 3.0https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...Support the show