Milky Way will be ‘clearly visible’ in parts of London in May – key dates and best places to see it

Just a week after enjoying an incredible view of the Northern Lights, London is set to experience another incredible sight this month. In the early mornings of May you have the wonderful opportunity to observe the core of the Milky Way galaxy, which is brighter than normal.

In addition to views of these distant stars and solar systems, we’ll also be able to see our own neighboring planets in the night sky. This month, Jupiter is briefly visible low in the western evening sky after sunset.

In the eastern predawn sky, you’ll be able to see the remaining brighter planets—Saturn, Mars, Mercury, and Venus—all lined up.

READ MORE: Experts issue red aurora borealis alert with aurora visible in London and UK tonight

These views of the Milky Way and our solar system are best seen in areas with minimal light pollution. Although this puts us at a disadvantage in London, the outer parts of the city, such as Croydon, Kingston and Hillingdon, stand a good chance of enjoying the show.

Although these targets are visible throughout May, experts at Aurora Watch UK have reported that they have forecast another red alert for geomagnetic activity this evening (Friday 17 May).

The Met Office predicted that this evening could see another coronal mass ejection from the sun causing an interaction with the Earth’s magnetic field, producing stunning lights, and it looks like they’re right.

Aroura Watch UK, led by scientists from Lancaster University’s planetary physics group, published a bar chart showing that the base rate of geomagnetic activity is around 30 to 40 nanotesla (a unit of of magnetism), but at 7 p.m., it reached 500 nanotesla. This massive jump is likely to mean we’ll be able to see the Northern Lights in the UK again.

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