The Moon of Venus meets the Red Gem of Antares

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This week, astronomers will witness a conjunction that will bring together May's full moon with the bright red giant star, known as Antares.

The term conjunction is used in astronomy to refer to the appearance of two celestial bodies near each other in the sky when observed from Earth.

May's full moon, known as the "Venus Moon," will reach its peak on Thursday, May 23, and will rise alongside the bright star Antares, which will appear like a bright "red jewel" in the night sky that gradually emerges from behind the moon.

The full moon of May is called the “Venus Moon,” after the abundant flowers that bloom during this month in the Northern Hemisphere, according to Timeanddate.com. The full moon will also appear bright on Wednesday and Friday.

The full moon is expected to reach its peak on May 23 at 21:00 GMT, and will rise in conjunction with Antares, which is often confused with Mars due to its similar color. 

The bright star in Scorpio will be visible to the lower left of the full moon. It will be visible to the naked eye around the world, but using a stargazer or small telescope can give sky watchers a better view. 

It is noteworthy that Antares is the brightest star in the constellation Scorpio. It is a red giant star, with a radius of more than 650 solar radii. Its color indicates a relatively low surface temperature, around 3,600 Kelvin (3,327 degrees Celsius).

It is about 550 light years away from Earth, meaning that its light took 550 years to reach us, and for this reason we see the star as it appeared more than half a thousand years ago.

On the other hand, the Moon is only 1.3 light seconds away from us, so we see it as it was 1.3 seconds ago.