What’s Up: May 2026 Skywatching Tips from NASA

The Eta Aquarid meteor shower brings shooting stars before dawn, the Moon meets brilliant Venus after sunset, and May ends with a rare Blue Moon.

• May 5 + 6: Best time to see the Eta Aquarids
• May 18: Moon and Venus conjunction
• May 31: Blue Moon

Shooting stars before dawn, a brilliant meeting between the Moon and Venus and a rare “Blue Moon” to end the month.

This is what happens in May.

First up: the Eta Aquarid meteor shower, which peaks in early May.

These shooting stars come from Halley’s comet. Every year, Earth passes through the dusty comet trail and these tiny particles burn up in our atmosphere. This is what creates these light trails in the sky.

Halley’s Comet last passed through the inner solar system in 1986 and will not return until 2061.

The Eta Aquarids appear to come from the constellation Aquarius. This is where the shower gets its name.

These meteors are fast, hurtling through Earth’s atmosphere at about 40 miles per second. And because they move so quickly, they can leave behind light trails that linger for a moment after the flash.

At its peak, the shower can produce up to about 50 meteors per hour under ideal skies. Best time to watch? In the predawn hours, generally looking toward the eastern sky.

For the best chance of seeing meteor showers, go to a dark place, let your eyes adjust for about 20 to 30 minutes, and avoid bright lights, including your phone screen.

The peak is expected around May 5-6, but moonlight this year could blot out some of the fainter meteors.

On May 18, look west just after sunset.

The Moon has a small, bright companion while Venus shines nearby. The crescent Moon helps show the path, making it easy to spot.

Venus is one of the brightest objects we can see from Earth, often called the evening star.

The Moon and Venus appear close to each other because they align from our perspective on Earth. But in reality, they are separated by millions of kilometers in space.

Last month, Artemis II launched just around the time of the April 1 Full Moon, sending astronauts around the Moon for the first time in more than 50 years and giving us spectacular new views of our nearest neighbor.

And now May ends with another lunar moment: a Full Moon on May 31. This one is a Blue Moon.

But in reality it won’t look blue.

Blue Moon is the name given to the second Full Moon in a single calendar month. This is a relatively rare occurrence, hence the expression “once in a blue moon”.

So whether you get up before sunrise or after sunset, May is the perfect time to look up.

Here are the Moon phases for May.

You can stay informed about all NASA missions exploring the solar system and beyond at science.nasa.gov.

I’m Raquel Villanueva from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and this is what’s happening this month.