All articles tagged with #milky way core
ESA’s Euclid captured a Milky Way core snapshot to precede NASA’s Roman Space Telescope’s deep Galactic Bulge survey. By adding Euclid’s one-day preview to Roman’s planned observations, scientists will extend the survey window, improve Milky Way mapping, and enhance the detection of microlensing events that can reveal exoplanets and wandering stellar-mass black holes.
During Core Season (Feb–Oct) the May 16 new moon provides the darkest skies for a rare view of the Milky Way’s dense core, best seen midnight to dawn from a dark southern horizon toward Aquila, Scutum, Sagittarius and Scorpius; plan a moonless, low-light-location outing before summer twilight shortens the viewing window.
May 2026 offers a rare lunar pair (Flower Moon on May 1 and a blue moon on May 31), a peak Eta Aquariid meteor shower with moonlight limiting visibility, close Mars–Saturn conjunctions around May 12–13, a bright Moon–Venus pairing on May 18, and the best Milky Way core viewing near the May 16 new moon, making it one of the year's most rewarding observing windows for skygazers and astrophotographers.