Sarah Reeves

As the temperature drops and winter approaches, the May sky has a series of astronomical treats lined up, making for superb stargazing. Here are the dates to mark in your astronomical calendar.  On Wednesday, May 26 there will be a rare total lunar eclipse, coinciding with a ‘supermoon’. A total lunar eclipse – often known as a ‘blood moon’ – occurs when the Sun and Moon are directly opposite one another, relative to Earth, and the moon moves completely into the Earth’s shadow. During the eclipse, the only light reaching the Moon is the sunlight that has been refracted, or bent, through the Earth’s atmosphere, bathing the Moon in a red-orange light (like at sunrise and sunset).Adding to the allure of May’s eclipse is that it will also be a ‘supermoon’ – which is defined as a full Moon occurring within 24 hours of the Moon's closest approach to Earth (the Moon’s orbit is slightly elliptical), making the Moon appear about nine per cent larger than usual (though, in reality, the difference is not perceptible to the human eye). The supermoon will be rising in the east just as the sun sets in the west, just before 5pm (AEST), with the eclipse beginning a couple of hours later.  Photograph: Powerhouse Museum/Marinco Kodjanovski | Dr Sarah Reeves Besides the Moon, there are many other spectacular sights to see throughout May. The summer constellations of Orion (the hunter) and Canis Major (the great dog) will still be visible in the north-west in the evening, while the Southern Cros