The Ellensburg, WA sky for the week of June 28, 2025

Saturday: Nearly 400 years ago, Galileo looked at the Pleiades star cluster through his telescope and noticed that the seven or so stars in the region visible to the naked eye became many more. There are two main types of star clusters. Open star clusters, like the Pleiades and the Beehive, are groups of a few dozen to a few thousand stars that formed from the same cloud of gas and dust within our galaxy. Stars in open star clusters are young as far as stars go. Globular clusters are groups of up to a few million stars that orbit the core of spiral galaxies such as our own Milky Way. One of the most well-known star clusters is the globular cluster in Hercules, an object that is fairly easy to find with binoculars. First find Vega, the bright bluish star six and a half fists held upright and at arm’s length above the eastern horizon at 11:00 p.m. Two fists above Vega, and close to straight overhead, is a keystone shape that represents the body of Hercules. Aim your binoculars at the upper left-hand star of the keystone, the star closest to straight overhead. The globular cluster is one third of the way to the rightmost star of the keystone. It looks like a fuzzy patch on the obtuse angle of a small obtuse triangle. If you don’t know what an obtuse angle is, you should not have told your teacher, “I’ll never need to know this math stuff you are teaching.”

Sunday: Did you know that you can see bright planets during the day? It really helps if they are close to an easy to spot object such as the Moon. Mars is just to the upper right of the Moon from 6:30 p.m. in the southwestern sky until nearly midnight when it sets in the west. Look at the Moon with binoculars anytime between 6:30 and sunset. Once you find Mars in the binocular field of view, lower your binoculars and look at that same location with the naked eye. You should still be able to see Mars with the naked eye now that you know exactly where it is located.

Monday: Look straight up at midnight. The head of Draco the dragon will be looking straight down on you. The brightest star in the head is called Eltanin. If you wait for a VERY long time, Eltanin will be the brightest star in the entire night sky. Currently 154 light years away, it is moving towards Earth and will be only 28 light years away in about 1.3 million years, claiming the title as the brightest star.

Tuesday: Mizar is a star in the middle of the Big Dipper handle. Don’t confuse Mizar with its rhyming brother Izar in the constellation Bootes. Izar is also a binary star with about the same apparent brightness. And both were featured in different episodes of Star Trek. Izar was featured in the Star Trek episode “Whom Gods Destroy” from the original series. It is the base of Fleet Captain Garth, a former big shot in the federation and one of Kirk’s heroes before he went insane. Garth kidnaps Kirk and Spock before eventually being outsmarted. Mizar doesn’t play as big a role in its episode. It is the star of the home world of one of the alien species in The Next Generation episode “Allegiance.” Izar is one fist above the bright star Arcturus and exactly six fists above the west-southwestern horizon at 11:00 p.m. Mizar is nearly six fists above the west-northwestern horizon.

Wednesday: At 4:00 a.m., Saturn is three fists above the southeastern horizon and Venus is about a fist above the eastern horizon.

Thursday: Hot enough for you? Don’t blame the Earth-Sun distance. Surprisingly, the overall temperature of the Earth is slightly higher in July, when the Earth is farthest from the Sun, than in January, when it is closest. That’s because in July, the Northern Hemisphere is tilted towards the Sun. (This is the real cause of the seasons.) The Northern Hemisphere has more land than the Southern Hemisphere. Thus, in July, the large amount of Northern Hemisphere land heats up the entire Earth about two degrees Celsius warmer than in January. In January, the watery Southern Hemisphere is tilted toward the Sun. But water does not heat up as fast as land, so the Earth is a few degrees cooler. The distance between the Earth and the Sun is its greatest today, 152.1 million kilometers. This is called aphelion from the Greek prefix “apo” meaning “apart” and Helios, the Greek god of the Sun.

Friday: Being in a coma is a bad thing. Looking at the Coma Star Cluster is a good thing. The Coma Star Cluster is an open cluster of about 50 stars that takes up more space in the sky than 10 full Moons. It looks like a fuzzy patch with the naked eye. Binoculars reveal dozens of sparkling stars. A telescope actually diminishes from the spectacle because the cluster is so big, and the telescope’s field of view is so small. The Coma Star Cluster is in the faint constellation Coma Berenices (ba-ron-ice’-ez) or Queen Berenice’s hair. Queen Berenice of Egypt cut off her beautiful hair as a sacrifice to the gods for the safe return of her husband Ptolemy III from battle. The Coma Star Cluster is about three fists above the western horizon at 11:00 p.m.

The positional information in this column about stars and planets is typically accurate for the entire week. For up-to-date information about the night sky, go to https://nightsky.jpl.nasa.gov/planner.cfm. All times are Pacific Time unless noted.

The Ellensburg, WA sky for the week of June 21, 2025

Saturday: At 7:40 p.m. last night, the Sun reached its highest declination (the official name for sky latitude) of 23.5 degrees above the celestial equator. The celestial equator is the line that divides the northern sky from the southern sky. That makes today the first full day of summer. In Ellensburg, the Sun is about seven fists held upright and at arm’s length above the south horizon at 1:00 p.m. (noon standard time) on the first day of summer.

Contrary to popular belief, the Sun is never straight overhead in Ellensburg or anywhere else in the 48 contiguous states. The northernmost portion of the world where the Sun can be directly overhead is 23.5 degrees north latitude. In ancient times, the Sun was in the constellation Cancer the crab on the first day of summer. Hence, 23.5 degrees north latitude has the nickname "Tropic of Cancer". Because the Earth wobbles like a spinning top, the Sun's apparent path through the sky changes slightly over time. Now, the Sun is in the constellation Taurus the Bull on the first day of summer. However, citing the high cost of revising all the science books, geographers are not changing the name of 23.5 degrees north latitude to "Tropic of Taurus". The first day of summer is often called the summer solstice. However, astronomers refer to the summer solstice as the point in the sky in which the Sun is at its highest declination above the celestial equator. Summer starts when the Sun is at the summer solstice point.

Sunday: Mercury is a half a fist above the northwestern horizon at 10:00 p.m. The two bright stars of Gemini, Pollux and Castor, are to the right of Mercury. At this time, Mars is about two first above the western horizon. The bright star Regulus is to the lower right of Mars.

Monday: Antares is one and a half fists above the southern horizon at 11:30 p.m.

Tuesday: “Mom, I can’t sleep. It is too light out!” A poor excuse you say. Good astronomy skills, I say. The latest sunset of the year happens around this date. Surprisingly, the earliest sunrise and the latest sunset do not both happen on the longest day of the year, the day of the summer solstice. The earliest sunrise occurs just before the longest day and the latest sunset occurs just after the longest day. This phenomenon relates to the angle of the Sun’s path near rising and setting. In Ellensburg, that angle is about 66 degrees above the southern horizon at noon near the first day of summer. Because of the Earth’s orbit, which causes the Sun’s apparent motion, the angles are not symmetric. The asymmetry in orbital angles leads to the asymmetry in rise and set times. This year, the sun sets at about 9:01 p.m. every night this week as viewed from Ellensburg, WA. Find sunset data for your location at https://www.timeanddate.com/sun/.

Wednesday: Venus is one fist above the eastern horizon and Saturn is nearly three fists above the southeastern horizon at 4:00 a.m.

Thursday: Happy Asteroid Day (http://www.asteroidday.org/), the day we celebrate avoiding the destruction of the Earth by an undiscovered asteroid. There are about a million asteroids in the Solar System with the potential to strike Earth and destroy a city. Astronomers have discovered only 1% of them. Asteroid Day is an effort to educate the public and encourage policy makers to fund this important effort. King Tut may have celebrated an ancient Asteroid Day by asking his assistants to make a dagger out of a broken-off asteroid that landed on Earth. Astronomers discovered that the blade of the knife contained much more nickel than is found in terrestrial iron, an amount consistent with iron meteorites, especially with one found in the year 2000 in the Kharga region in northern Egypt. For more information about the dagger, go to http://goo.gl/BHBivd.

Friday: Don’t wait until next week to watch those wimpy firecracker shows. Find the hypergiant star Rho Cassiopeiae. Astronomers think that Rho Cassiopeiae will likely go supernova (explode) in the near future. Of course, for stars, “near future” might mean today. It might mean 20,000 years from now. Rho Cassiopeiae is in the constellation Cassiopeia the queen. At 11:00 tonight, Cassiopeia looks like the letter “W” about two and a half fists above the north-northeastern horizon. Rho Cassiopeiae is about a finger’s width to the right of the rightmost star in the “W.” Once you find it, you’ll be thinking, “Big deal, I can hardly see it.” Although it is barely visible to the naked eye, it is actually very bright. It is the 20^th most luminous star in the sky, a whopping 550,000 times more luminous than the Sun.

The positional information in this column about stars and planets is typically accurate for the entire week. For up-to-date information about the night sky, go to https://nightsky.jpl.nasa.gov/planner.cfm. All times are Pacific Time unless noted.

The Ellensburg, WA sky for the week of June 14. 2025

CWU graduation is this weekend. Your favorite graduate deserves a gift. Why not get her, him, or them a star? I don’t mean from one of those organizations that offer to “register the name of YOUR star with the U.S. Patent Office.” No company owns the right to name stars after people. Besides, the stars that those companies “name” are so dim you can’t find them. In this column, I’ll pick a constellation and representative star for each of the four colleges at CWU. Then, I’ll briefly tell the story of the constellation and relate that story to the aspect of public service CWU graduates from that college are highly qualified to engage in based on my version of sky interpretation. If different couples can have “their” song, then your favorite college graduate can have their star. If you can’t make it to campus, celebrate with your favorite CWU 2025 graduate at the Livestream ceremony shown here: http://www.cwu.edu/commencement/.

Saturday: College of Arts and Humanities: You are the people who interpret the world in unique ways. Then, you share those ways with others. According to Greek mythology, Orpheus charmed everyone he met when he played the lyre or harp. After his wife died tragically, he journeyed to the underworld to charm its inhabitants to win his wife back to the living world. Your service reminder: use your talent to bring joy to others. The constellation Lyra and its bright star Vega should remind you of the power of the arts. Vega is five and a half fists held upright and at arm’s length above the eastern horizon at 11:00 p.m.

Sunday: "Do I have to wake up yet? It's so early!" The next few days have the earliest sunrises for the northern part of the United States, including Ellensburg. "Wait, I thought this happened on the longest day of the year, which hasn't occurred yet." Because the Earth's orbit is not a perfect circle, the sunrise and sunset time is not symmetric. The earliest sunrise occurs before the longest day and the latest sunset occurs after the longest day. Go to http://earthsky.org/?p=4027 to read more about this phenomenon. While you are up early, look for the planets Venus and Saturn. Venus is one fist above the eastern horizon and Saturn is two and a half fists above the east-southeastern horizon at 4:15 a.m.

Monday: College of Business. You are the future movers and shakers. The future CEOs. The future big donors to Central. Auriga represented a king of Athens who happened to be mobility impaired. Instead of sitting around waiting for others to transport him, he took the initiative to invent the four-wheeled chariot. He solved a problem for a special need. Your service reminder: address the problems of those in the most need. To remind you of that, look to the constellation Auriga. Its bright star Capella is about a half a fist above the north-northwestern horizon at 11:00 p.m.

Tuesday: Mars and the bright star Regulus are twinning in the sky tonight. They are the same brightness, and Mars is less than a degree above Regulus. They are two fists above the western horizon at 10:00 p.m.

Wednesday: College of Education and Professional Studies. You are the teachers. The craftspeople. The technical experts. Bootes, the herder, was such a person. Bootes’ job was to guide the northern constellations to the feeding place and the watering hole. He and his dogs were especially in charge of Ursa Major and Ursa Minor, the greater and lesser bears. Your service reminder: guide others to a better place in life. Look to the constellation Bootes and its bright star Arcturus to remind you of this. Arcturus is five and a half fists above the southwestern horizon at 11:00 p.m.

Thursday: Mercury is a half a fist above the west-northwestern horizon at 9:45 p.m.

Friday: College of the Sciences. You are the people who will systematically study how the world works. Agriculture is an important scientific application. Each year, farmers must use the findings of science to be successful. Who better to represent the College of the Sciences than Virgo, the goddess of the harvest? Virgo looms large in the sky holding an ear of wheat in her hand. Your service reminder: study the practical aspects of the scientific world. The ear of wheat, and your service reminder, is represented by the bright star Spica. Spica is two and a half fists above the southwestern horizon at 11:00 p.m. 

The positional information in this column about stars and planets is typically accurate for the entire week. For up-to-date information about the night sky, go to https://nightsky.jpl.nasa.gov/planner.cfm. All times are Pacific Time unless noted.

The Ellensburg, WA sky for the week of June 7, 2025

Saturday: Right after sunset, the largest and smallest planets are near neighbors in the sky. Jupiter, the brighter of the two, is a little below and to the left of Mercury, just above the northwestern horizon at 9:30 p.m.

Sunday: I hope that you have never been in a collision. It can be scary and dangerous. The biggest collision in our celestial neighborhood may occur in a few billion years when our Milky Way Galaxy may collide with the Andromeda Galaxy. Notice I said, “MAY occur” and “MAY collide. Up until about two weeks ago I would have sounded more certain. But recent simulations by astronomers have lowered the chance of a collision to about 50%. These new simulations did a better job in accounting for the effects of the smaller galaxies in the celestial neighborhood. This video shows a simulation with the new findings: https://youtu.be/o2x_31dE04s. 

If you can’t stay awake for a few billion years to see the possible collision, stay up until late at night to see the Andromeda Galaxy. First find the Great Square of Pegasus. At 2:00 a.m., the left-hand corner of the square is about two fists held upright and at arm’s length above the east-northeastern horizon. Less than two fists to the left and down a little bit is another star the same brightness as the star at the corner of the square. From that star, hop about a half a fist up to a star that is about one fourth as bright. Less than another half fist in the same direction is a fuzzy oval patch of light known as the Andromeda Galaxy. The galaxy is about two and a half fists above the northeastern horizon. The galaxy is impressive to see in binoculars. It consists of nearly a trillion stars and is 2.2 million light years away.

Monday: Antares is less than a half a fist to the left of the moon at 10:00 p.m. They are one fist above the southeastern horizon.

Tuesday: In 1982, the British group Bow Wow Wow first sang, “I Want Candy”. In May 2019, NASA finally granted that wish by releasing images of Mars’ moon Phobos looking like candy.  The thermal imaging camera on NASA’s long lived Odyssey orbiter took a series of images of the full phase of Phobos. The resulting composite, looking like a many layered jawbreaker, shows how the temperature varies throughout the small moon. This temperature distribution, in turn, can help astronomers determine what the moon is made of. For more about this yummy treat, go to https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/why-this-martian-full-moon-looks-like-candy. Mars is nearly three fists above the western horizon at 10:00 p.m.

Wednesday: At 4:15 a.m., Venus is a fist above the eastern horizon and Saturn is a little more than two fists above the southeastern horizon.

Thursday: The questions who, what, where, and when can only be asked with a “W”. At 10:00 p.m., the W-shaped constellation Cassiopeia is about two fists above due north. The middle star in the W was used as a navigation reference point during the early space missions. The American astronaut Gus Grissom nicknamed the star Navi, his middle name Ivan spelled backwards. After he died in the Apollo 1 fire, the star name was kept as a memorial.

Friday: Are you up at 12:53 a.m., looking due north and thinking you see a UFO coming to take you away? That's no UFO. It's the bright star Capella, a circumpolar star that never goes below the horizon as viewed from Ellensburg.

The positional information in this column about stars and planets is typically accurate for the entire week. For up-to-date information about the night sky, go to https://nightsky.jpl.nasa.gov/planner.cfm. All times are Pacific Time unless noted.