Overview
- The full moon, which peaked Friday at 7:23 p.m. local time, begins a month that features two full moons.
- Scientists define a Blue Moon as the second full moon in a single calendar month, and they stress it will not appear blue.
- The May 31 full moon aligns near lunar apogee, so it should look about 5% smaller and up to 15% dimmer than average, according to Planetarium Hamburg’s Dr. Björn Voss.
- The Eta‑Aquarid meteors tied to Halley’s Comet reach maximum in the morning of May 6, with better views in southern latitudes as moonlight reduces sightings farther north.
- Evening planets offer an added show as Venus brightens and Jupiter sinks lower, with their gap shrinking from roughly 40 degrees to under 10 degrees by May 31 and a crescent Moon passing nearby around May 18 to 20.