About this episode

This episode recaps the Artemis II mission and discusses the astronomical events in May 2026.

Send us Fan Mail May 2026 is an exciting time for astronomy, both in the sky above us and in space beyond Earth. In this episode, we take a look at the planets visible this month and recap the successful Artemis II mission, which has just returned astronauts from a journey around the Moon for the first time in over 50 years. We’ll walk through what you can expect to see in the evening and morning skies, including a beautiful mid-month alignment of the Moon, Venus, and Jupiter, along with a helpful guide to spotting Mars and Saturn in the predawn sky. On the space news side, we break down the Artemis II mission from launch to splashdown, highlight what was learned during the flight, and look ahead to what comes next in NASA’s Artemis program. Beginning this month, “What’s Up in the Month’s Sky” is now a two-part series. In Part 1, we focus on planets and space news. In Part 2, we shift back to observing with the Lunar Feature of the Month and a deep sky tour. We’re also updating the monthly Sky Guide. It will now include detailed planetary data along with information on all of the deep sky objects covered each month, and will be available both as a web page and as a downloadable…

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