The night sky in May 2027
Moon phases, meteor showers, planets and the best nights to look up from the UK in May 2027. Times are UK clock time (BST) for central England.
Best nights to watch
- Eta Aquariids peak, nights of 5–6 and 6–7 May: Poor. The Moon is new and out of sight, so the sky is dark all night.
- Moon-free dark skies on the nights from 1 to 8 May: the best nights this month for faint shooting stars, the Milky Way and deep-sky objects.
- Moon-free dark skies on the nights from 28 to 31 May: the best nights this month for faint shooting stars, the Milky Way and deep-sky objects.
Around midsummer the Sun never sinks far enough below the horizon for a fully dark sky in central England. On 15 nights this month, "dark" here means the deepest twilight of the night.
The Moon
Each day shows the Moon's shape in the evening. Shaded days start the best Moon-free dark nights.
Meteor showers
Eta Aquariids
Poor from the UKPeak: nights of 5–6 and 6–7 May (a broad maximum around Thu 6 May, in daylight in the UK, so both nights are worth watching). Zenithal hourly rate: about 50 (varies from year to year) (what one observer would see in an hour under a perfect sky with the radiant overhead; expect fewer). Radiant: Aquarius (near the star Eta Aquarii). Parent: Comet 1P/Halley.
The Moon is new and out of sight, so the sky is dark all night. Moonlight drowns all but the brightest meteors this year, so watch on the nights either side if the Moon is less bright then, or wait for next year.
Smaller showers peaking this month: Eta Lyrids (around 9–11 May, a few an hour at best); Tau Herculids (around 30–31 May, mainly in outburst years, a few an hour at best).
On any dark night you can also see a few sporadic meteors an hour, which belong to no shower. Rates are usually higher after midnight, when your side of Earth faces the direction it is travelling.
Planets
For the middle of the month. Magnitude measures brightness: the lower the number, the brighter, and anything brighter than about 2 is easy to see from a town.
- Mercury
- In the evening sky after sunset, low in the north-west, until about 22:15. Brightness: magnitude −0.7.
- Venus
- Venus is too close to the Sun to see this month.
- Mars
- Visible from dusk, starting in the south-west, until it sinks low at about 02:15. Brightness: magnitude 0.6.
- Jupiter
- Visible from dusk, starting in the south-west, until it sinks low at about 01:45. Brightness: magnitude −1.8.
- Saturn
- Saturn is too close to the Sun to see this month.
Dates for your diary
- Wednesday 12 May, evening: The Moon near Jupiter. The half-lit Moon (47 per cent lit) is about 1° from Jupiter at about 22:50. A pairing like this is a good way to find a planet for the first time.
- Thursday 13 May, evening: The Moon near Mars. The half-lit Moon (58 per cent lit) is about 4° from Mars at about 21:40. A pairing like this is a good way to find a planet for the first time.
- Friday 28 May: Mercury at greatest eastern elongation. Mercury is 23° from the Sun, as far as it gets on this swing, and in the evening sky after sunset. Mercury is always low and hard to spot from the UK; look for it in a clear sky low in the west, 30 to 45 minutes after sunset.
Find a safe spot away from street lights, wrap up warmly and lie back so you can see a wide sweep of sky. Give your eyes 20 minutes to adjust and keep phone screens dim. No telescope is needed for meteors. Children should always watch with an adult. Never look at the Sun.
Read about every meteor shower, what a radiant and the zenithal hourly rate mean, and how moonlight hides faint meteors. Children can start with how to watch for shooting stars.