Use binoculars to view the Blue Moon

Last week the stargazing tip was to use a star chart, and I forgot to give you a very good place to find one. Point your computer browser to http://skymaps.com/downloads.html. It will give you a very usable, and printable, star chart for your evening or early morning viewing sessions.

This week I offer stargazing tip No. 6: Don't buy a telescope yet. I know -- you want to get out there with a telescope and look at all the things you have been hearing about, but now is not the time. Spend more time learning your way around the sky first. If you have a pair of binoculars, now is the time to use them.

The Moon is an excellent binocular subject, all the way from a faint crescent after New through Full, then progressing through third quarter back to a small crescent in the early morning hours.

Binoculars can give you a hint at some of the faint fuzzies out there. Realize that some of those faint fuzzies are star clusters; others may be galaxies, island universes of their own just like the Milky Way, our home galaxy. If fact, with summer approaching, use your binoculars to examine the Milky Way as it stretches across the sky. The central part of our galaxy is now rising just after midnight and is a good target for some binocular scanning.

Still skeptical about binoculars? Think of it this way: with binoculars you have two telescopes to look through instead of one. And binoculars are ready for observing at a moment's notice, unlike a telescope, which will require at least a few minutes of setup time.

The Moon will be full on May 31, that will give us a rare astronomical event, a Blue Moon.

Now, don't get excited and run outside to see a blue color to the Moon. The term Blue Moon is an expression used now to indicate the second full Moon in a calendar month. If you will recall, the Moon was full on May 1 and the full Moon on May 31 will be the second one in the same month, at least in the western hemisphere. In England and Europe the full Moon will occur on June 1. It has to do with time zones.

A Blue Moon is also a term used to describe a rare occurring event. Even so, two full Moons in a single calendar month is not a terribly rare event occurring on average, every 2.72 years, or 41 times each century.

The next Blue Moon will be December 31, 2009, and because February (using Universal Time) will have no full Moon in 2018 both January and March of that year will each have a Blue Moon.

Now, there could be a time when the Moon could be blue, especially when there is dust or smoke in the atmosphere. In 1883 when the volcano Krakatoa exploded the dust and smoke in the atmosphere caused the Moon to have a bluish tint for nearly two years, so it is possible.

SKY WATCH: A waxing, almost full Moon, will be near the bright star Spica in Virgo on the 27th and the full Moon rises with Jupiter and reddish Antares in Scorpius at about 9:30 MDT on the 31st. Venus is still the shining "star" of the evening show and she is joined by fleet Mercury all this week. On the evening of May 30 look for pinkish Mercury about a degree (the width of two full Moons) from the star cluster M35. It should be a good show in binoculars. Saturn is still holding court in regal Leo's chambers and Jupiter is making his appearance earlier each evening getting ready for his summer spectacular.

Next time, more of our Top Ten tips for stargazers.