A walk in the moonlight of May gives us fresh air, exercise and a guided tour of some of nature’s heavenly wonders.

For the first days of May, we find the moon as a thin, waning crescent hovering over the eastern horizon before sunrise. With barely more than a month to the summer solstice and our shortest nighttime hours, morning exercisers must rise very early to see astronomical objects. Set that alarm for 4:30 a.m. May 8 and 9 to spot the moon and nearby, just rising over the horizon, a brightly shining planet Jupiter.

For the next few nights we loose our guide as the moon hides in the sun’s glare, becoming new May 13. A moonless sky is a perfect time to witness a completely dark sky, punctuated only by stars, constellations and the Milky Way. During May there are precious few hours to enjoy complete darkness. Astronomical twilight at our latitude, when the sky is as dark as it can get, begins at 10:50 p.m. and ends by 3:30 a.m. as viewed from the Pacific Northwest.

Moonless night walkers may look to the east during this time to see the glorious milky way, the cloud of stars in our home galaxy, accompanied by the constellations of summer rising to prominence.

Our guide, the moon, returns to the sky in the west after sunset May 14. Watch for it to appear low over the west – northwest horizon, a thin crescent with horns pointing right to the most spectacular object in the sky this month. Well before darkness unveils the starry night, brilliant Venus appears, seeming to hover in the same place all month, save for the visiting moon May 15 and 16. The planet’s great brilliance becomes obvious as darkness falls and bright stars pop into view.

Passing through Gemini, the crescent moon moves into Cancer on May 18. Use binoculars to locate the Beehive star cluster just above the moon.

One night later, as the moon moves another 13 degrees to the east against the sky, we find our natural satellite resting beneath the planet Mars. Moving ever farther from earth, the red planet appears dimmer and less interesting than past months.

What Mars lacks is made up for by the moon’s next visit, May 21 and 22, as it passes beneath the giant planet Saturn. The ringed wonder came closest to earth in March, but is better placed this month for late evening viewing, high in the southern sky by 10 p.m., all month. A telescope of any size will show Saturn’s spectacular rings and its large moon Titan. Larger amateur telescopes reveal up to five more moons.

As the moon becomes full and bright, it passes through Virgo and Libra, washing out the few stars seen in this part of the sky. Before the month ends, however, our lunar guide will offer one more compelling visit.

On the night of May 27 the full moon rises along with the constellation Scorpius, within 1 degree of the giant red star Antares. Use binoculars to watch the moon slowly glide past the bright star.

While the moon now shines in the summer constellations and rich Milky Way, its brilliance outshines all but the brightest stars. It is now time to say goodbye to our guide, and wait until early next month to take a late night walk under a spectacular, star-studded moonless night.

Bob Duke is a North Coast amateur astronomer, astronomy educator and weekly contributor to The Daily Astorian.