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4h ago

Flower Micromoon Kicks Off a Rare Two-Full-Moon May

Bright moonlight will curb early‑May meteor views.

May 1 brings the Full Flower Moon, exactly a calendar month after April 1’s Full Moon, imaged here. Credit: Steve Harwood (Flickr, CC BY-NC 4.0)
Image
Bright Jupiter shines just above thin clouds at left, below the stars Castor and Pollux, the heads of Gemini. This month offers many transits of the Galilean moons, sometimes together. Credit: Alan Dyer

Overview

  • The Flower Moon, which peaked Friday afternoon, looked slightly smaller than usual as a micromoon and was easiest to catch at dusk near moonrise.
  • The Eta Aquarid meteor shower peaks before dawn on May 5–6, though the bright Moon will wash out many faint streaks that can reach about 50 per hour under ideal skies.
  • Look west after sunset on May 18 to spot a thin crescent Moon close to Venus, a simple guidepost that makes the month’s brightest planet easy to find.
  • The second full Moon arrives on May 31 as a Blue Moon, meaning the month’s second full Moon, and it is expected to be 2026’s smallest full Moon.
  • A micromoon occurs near lunar apogee, so the disk appears about 6–7% smaller and roughly 10% dimmer than average, which is the case for both May full Moons.