Jupiter holds court over the eastern evening heavens throughout May, as this bold, bright -2.5 magnitude planet hangs out in the constellation Virgo.

This gigantic, gaseous planet gets a lunar date next weekend, when the gibbous moon approaches Jupiter. The moon then moves past the big planet May 7 — and the full moon occurs three days later, May 10.

Like a shy kid at a middle school dance, Mars (1.6 magnitude, less bright than Jupiter) hangs out almost inconspicuously in the west-northwest after sunset early in the month. The Red Planet will be lower after sunset — in the west-northwest — later in May.

Saturn rises now around 11:30 p.m., and it will be high in the south-southwest before dawn, at zero magnitude, bright. On May 22, the ringed planet ascends the east-southeast at 10 p.m., and before daybreak, find it high in the south-southwest.

The eastern morning sky features the vivacious Venus before sunrise throughout May. The planet is hard to miss at -4.7 magnitude now, a bright, enchanting beacon above the treetops. The skinny crescent of the waning moon sashays with Venus on the morning of May 22, and the moon breezes away May 23. The plucky planet rises about 4:15 a.m. later this week, and it rises around 3:45 a.m. late in the month.

There will be a difficult-to-see new moon May 25, at its monthly perigee (officially, May 26), the closest distance this year to Earth. Our own blue planet’s ocean tides are tugged by the gravitational pull of the moon, and NOAA has forecast higher-than-normal tides May 26-27.

Catch the peak of the Eta Aquarids meteors around May 4-6. The shooting stars are likely to peak on the morning of May 5, according to the International Meteor Organization (imo.net). The group said that in the Northern Hemisphere, this shower produces fewer shooting stars — about 10 to 30 an hour before dawn — than in the Southern Hemisphere. You may catch a handful. Comet Halley is the parent of these meteors.

Down-to-Earth events:

●May 1 — The spring heavens warm up with “Stars Tonight” at the David M. Brown Planetarium, 1426 N. Quincy St., Arlington, adjacent to Washington-Lee High School. 7:30 p.m. $3. friendsoftheplanetarium.org.

●May 2 — “Planet Nine from Outer Space,” a lecture by Mike Brown, California Institute of Technology. The search is on for a possible massive planet deep in the solar system. Lockheed Martin Imax Theater, National Air and Space Museum, Mall. 8 p.m. Obtain tickets in advance. Presented online. airandspace.si.edu.

●May 5 — Undergraduate students present research on asteroid rotation at the University of Maryland Observatory, College Park. Enjoy heavenly objects through telescopes afterward, weather permitting. 9 p.m. astro.umd.edu/openhouse.

●May 6 — Star stories, then music under the planetarium stars featuring Thai musician Teerasak Patamawenu. Montgomery College planetarium, Takoma Park, 7 p.m. bit.ly/2lQmu9u.

●May 7 — “Comets: From the Ordinary to the Extraordinary,” a talk by physicist Karl Battams, at the Northern Virginia Astronomy Club’s regular meeting, 163 Research Hall, George Mason University. 7 p.m. novac.com.

●May 7 — “Exploring the Universe with Gravitational Waves,” a lecture by physicist Rainer Weiss, LIGO Scientific Collaboration, co-winner of the 2016 Kavli Prize. At the Lockheed Martin Imax Theater, National Air and Space Museum. 8 p.m. Obtain tickets in advance. Presented online. airandspace.si.edu.

●May 13 — Space Day. Hands-on activities and talk with experts. National Air and Space Museum. 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. airandspace.si.edu.

●May 13 — “Challenges of Directly Imaging Earthlike Exoplanets Around Nearby Stars,” a talk by University of Maryland researcher Brian Hicks at the National Capital Astronomers regular meeting, held at the University of Maryland Observatory, College Park. 7:30 p.m. capitalastronomers.org.

●May 20 — The night sky from an urban island, “Exploring the Sky,” hosted by the National Park Service and the National Capital Astronomers, at Rock Creek Park near the Nature Center, in the field south of Military and Glover roads NW. 9 p.m. capitalastronomers.org.

●May 20 — “Sofia: The Stratospheric Observatory — Seven Years Flying,” a talk by astronomer Miguel Requena Torres, at the University of Maryland Observatory, College Park. View the night sky through telescopes afterward, weather permitting. 9 p.m. astro.umd.edu/openhouse.

●May 25 — “Mars, Moons, Missions and Microbes,” a lecture by scientist Andrew Steele, who develops measurement criteria for possibly detecting life on Mars and the moons Europa (Jupiter) and Enceladus (Saturn.) Hosted by the Carnegie Institution for Science, 6:30 p.m., at the Greenwalt Building, 5241 Broad Branch Rd. NW. Register in advance. carnegiescience.edu.

Blaine Friedlander can be reached at PostSkyWatch@yahoo.com.