We can’t imagine a more beautiful thing than May’s full moon – the Corn Moon. 🌽 Set to peak on May 5 at 1:34pm ET (1634 UTC ), this full moon, also known as the Flower Moon, will appear full till Sunday. Discover how it got its names:
, the Milk or Hare's Moon, and Vesak or Buddha Purnima.
A variety of sources list the full Moon in May as the Hare's Moon. Current western traditions see the patterns on the Moon as representing the "Man in the Moon." Many other cultures identify a hare or rabbit "in the Moon.” There are also sculptures, images, and tales about Moon gazing hares. The Chinese zodiac tends to associate the hare or rabbit with early March to early April.
As this lunar cycle progresses, bright Venus, Mars, and the background of stars will appear to shift westward each evening , with Venus and Mars shifting more slowly. The light of the full Moon will make it unlikely to see meteors from the only major meteor shower this lunar cycle . The bright star Pollux will pass its closest to Mars on May 8 and its closest to Venus on May 29. Mars will pass in front of the Beehive Cluster on June 2.
On Thursday afternoon, April 27, 2023, the Moon will appear half-full as it reaches its first quarter at 5:20 PM EDT. Monday, May 1, 2023, will be May Day. We currently divide the year into four seasons based upon the solstices and equinoxes, with summer starting with the solstice in June. This approximates summer as the quarter of the year with the warmest temperatures. Pre-Christian Celtic and Gaelic traditions in the British Isles celebrated the "quarter days" or "cross-quarter days" halfway between the solstices and equinoxes, dividing the seasons on these days.
Wednesday night into Thursday morning, May 3 to 4, 2023, the bright star Spica will appear less than 3 degrees to the lower right of the waxing gibbous Moon. The Moon will be 30 degrees above the southeastern horizon as evening twilight ends . The Moon will reach its highest in the sky less than 3 hours later .
Early Thursday morning, May 11, 2023, at 1:06 AM EDT, the Moon will be at perigee, its closest to the Earth for this orbit. Wednesday morning, May 17, 2023, low on the east-northeastern horizon, you may be able to see the bright planet Jupiter less than 2 degrees to the lower left of the thin, waning crescent Moon, with the planet Mercury farther to the lower left. This will be the first morning that Jupiter will be above the horizon before morning twilight begins. The Moon will rise first , Jupiter will rise 4 minutes later just 2 minutes before morning twilight begins .
In the Islamic calendar the months traditionally start with the first sighting of the waxing crescent Moon. Many Muslim communities now follow the Umm al-Qura Calendar of Saudi Arabia, which uses astronomical calculations to start months in a more predictable way. Using this calendar, sundown on Saturday evening, May 20, 2023, will probably mark the beginning of Dhu al-Qadah, one of the four sacred months during which warfare is prohibited.
Thursday night, May 25, 2023, at 9:40 PM EDT, the Moon will be at apogee, its farthest from the Earth for this orbit.
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