Spring is well and truly showing its hand - the non-stop train of named storms finally seems to have abated. The Sun actually sets an hour later at the end of the month, compared with sunset at the end of April.

The Solar System

The Sun: The big solar eclipse on April 8 was enjoyed by a great many people in the USA, but naturally it was cloudy here in Cornwall, so we couldn’t see much! The sun continues to move north and its activity has increased, with its surface now peppered with sunspots of varying sizes while this is being typed. Keep up to date at  www.spaceweather.com

The Moon: Last Quarter May 1, New Moon May 8, First Quarter May 15, Full Moon May 23, Last Quarter May 30. This month’s full moon is called the Flower Moon, which seems appropriate with plenty of flowering trees and shrubs about.

The Planets: Mercury has the greatest elongation, in the west on May 9. Dog walkers should keep an eye on the same general part of the morning sky as the Sun will rise.

Mars may be glimpsed early in the morning. Venus is not well placed this month; Jupiter is in conjunction with the Sun on May 18, while Saturn will be south of the equator; therefore neither are visible this month.

Bright stars:

Look out for Antares, a red star known as the rival to Mars. It climbs over the horizon as the month wears on in the constellation of Scorpio. Regulus, the brightest star in Leo, is well placed in the southern sky. Spica in Virgo is pretty and bright in the south-east.

From Space:

A battery pack from the ISS has hit a house in Florida; luckily it only weighed 700g! Apparently when NASA collected, they said: “Please can we have our battery back?”  The Chinese space station Tiangong (pictured) has also been hit by space debris, knocking out one of its solar panels.

Brian Sheen runs the Roseland Observatory which is based in Truro High School for Girls. You can find Roseland Observatory online at www.roselandobservatory.co.uk and on www.facebook.com/roselandobservatory