Mars tries to look like it belongs

Tonight is the night!! Grab the binoculars and head for a dark sky place and check just above the western horizon at about 9 p.m. local time for the great conjunction of Mars and the Beehive Star Cluster -- number 44 on Charles Messier's list of things that are not comets.

Bright, reddish Mars will be on the right side of the cluster trying to look like it belongs. If you go outside at about the same time over the next three evenings you will be able to watch as Mars moves through the cluster as seen from the Earth.

M44 is also known as Praesepe, or the Manger. It is named thus for appearing just above the eastern horizon each and every Christmas Eve.

I don't want to disappoint you, but, this supposed closeness is just so much celestial smoke and mirrors as Mars is no where near the star cluster. Mars lies at an average distance of 35 million miles from Earth while M44 resides at 525 light years, with a light year being about six trillion miles. So the nearness is only apparent from our perspective.

Watch during the next three nights as the red planet moves through and beyond the cluster. Watch during the rest of May and into June as Mars moves into the neighborhood of Saturn and companion star Regulus, the brightest star in the constellation Leo, the Lion. Another "smoke and mirror" appearance.

After an absence of several weeks from our evening skies, the International Space Station (ISS) will once again be visible for us earthbound observers. Tonight, Thursday, May 22, look to the southwest at about 10 p.m. CDT for another pass to start. This one will be almost directly overhead going to the northeast. During this pass the station will travel in front of the Coma Berenices star cluster. A nice place to follow the shuttle with your binoculars.

On May 23 look to the west southwest at about 10:23 p.m. CDT for another pass, going to the northeast then on the following evening, May 24, watch to the southwest at 9:10 p.m. CDT this time traveling to the northeast.

On Sunday evening, May 25, look for the station in the west to begin a pass at about 9:33 p.m. CDT. It will be traveling to the northeast.

There are several other pass times, some of which are in the early morning. In fact, on Wednesday, May 21, there were five ISS flybys starting at 2:30 am. For more information about times and directions go to www.heavens-above.com or the spaceweather.com/flybys both locations will give timings for space station sightings.

SKY WATCH: Mercury is still making a nice evening showing in the west just after sunset. The tiny first planet out from the Sun continues to be a bright spot near the horizon as the sky darkens into the evening twilight. Fellow planets Mars and Saturn are also on fine display in the gloaming. Mars in Cancer the Crab with the M44, the Beehive, star cluster and Saturn chumming up with Regulus in Leo, the Lion. In the late evening hours observation of the largest of our solar system's planets, Jupiter, will soon be possible. Jupiter follows the moon into the sky just after 1 am on May 22 and they will be rising together by June 24. By the end of June Jupiter will be rising into the evening sky just after 10 p.m..

Next time: More astronomical blathering.