Dazzling shooting stars kick off a month of great sky-watching opportunities, as the moon points the way toward some of the brightest worlds in our solar system. Backyard telescope users will also get a bonus view of alien eclipses, as some of Jupiter’s moons cross behind the giant planet.

So dust off those binoculars, and mark your May calendar!

Look for the waxing gibbous moon as it passes very close to the brightest member of the constellation Leo, the lion. You will find the brilliant blue-white star Regulus less than a degree away from the moon. Using your thumb to block the glare from the moon’s disk, see if you can spot the distinctive pattern of stars resembling a backward question mark