MERCURY is in the evening sky setting shortly after the Sun, but even at it greatest elongation east of the Sun on May 14, only an hour later, making the planet virtually unobservable.

Mercury is stationary on May 27 (NZST) when it will stop moving to the east through the stars and start moving west. (Neptune is stationary at the same time.)

VENUS will be very low in the morning twilight. It rises an hour before the Sun on May 1, so will be only a few degrees up shortly before sunrise. The planet will be some way round to the north from due east. By the end of the month Venus will be rising only 10 minutes before the Sun, so will be too close to the Sun for observation.

MARS remains in the evening sky, setting soon after 10 pm on May 1 and a little before on May 30. The planet's magnitude will vary from 1.2 to 1.4 during the month.

Mars starts the month in Gemini but will be in Cancer by the evening of May 6. Its path takes Mars towards Praesepe, the Beehive, star cluster which it crosses between May 22 and 24. It will be just north of the centre of the cluster on the evening of May 23. This should present a splendid binocular view - and a photographic opportunity. At 7 pm on May 23, Mars will be between the 6th magnitude stars 39 and 40 Cnc, two of the brightest in the cluster. An hour later Mars will have moved on slightly to be very close to an 8.7 magnitude star. The proximity of the stars should make the movement of Mars evident.

The diagram shows the position of Mars relative to the cluster at 7 pm, NZST (7 hrs UT) on May 22, 23 and 24. A binocular view from the southern hemisphere is presented. Stars to magnitude 10 are shown, so the faintest stars shown are not likely to be seen in binoculars. The circle represents a 2° field, less than half that of most binoculars.

Earlier in the month, on May 10, the 29% lit Moon will be between the star Pollux and Mars. During the evening the Moon will be moving towards Mars, but they will set before they are at their closest. Later there will be an occultation of Mars by the Moon, visible as a day time event from central and southern Europe, north Africa and the Middle East. It occurs after dark in a band from Pakistan across India to the southeast Asia countries including Sumatra.

JUPITER will rise close to 10 pm on May 1 and 2 hours earlier at the end of May. So by then it will be quite well placed for viewing late in the evening. The planet remains in Sagittarius some 10° from the "Teapot's Handle".

Being at a stationary point on May 9, Jupiter will show little change of position relative to the stars during the month. After May 9 it will appear to be moving in a retrograde sense, that is to the west, through the stars as the faster moving Earth begins to catch up with the larger planet.

Late in May, on the 24th, the 83% lit Moon will be 2° from Jupiter. The distance will vary during the evening as the Moon moves past Jupiter: they will be closest about 10:30 pm.

SATURN remains in Leo during May, close to the constellation's brightest star, Regulus magnitude 1.4. On May 3 Saturn is stationary, like Jupiter a few nights later. The difference is that Saturn has been moving to the west since late December 2007 and will start moving forward again, to the east, on May 3. Regulus will still be just over 2° to the west of Saturn, so they are at their closest when Saturn is stationary, after which the distance between them will start to slowly increase.

By May 31, Saturn will be setting at about 11.30 pm and will be its highest and best placed for viewing at the end of evening twilight.

Saturn, and Regulus, will be joined by the half lit Moon on the evening of May 12. The Moon will be on the opposite side of Regulus to Saturn. Late in the evening as they get low to the northwest, the Moon will be some 5° from Regulus and 7° from Saturn. There is another occultation of Regulus by the Moon a few hours after they set, but it is only visible from the extreme south Atlantic Ocean, including Georgia, and a small part of Antarctica.