The Ellensburg, WA sky for the week of May 28, 2022

Saturday: Cygnus the swan flies tonight. Deneb, the brightest star in the constellation, whose name means “tail” in Arabic, is two and a half fists held upright and at arm’s length above due northeast at 10:00 p.m. Cygnus’ wings make a vertical line one half a fist to the right of Deneb. Its head, marked by the star Albireo, is two fists to the right of Deneb. While Deneb is at the tail of Cygnus, it is at the head of the line of bright stars. It is 160,000 times more luminous than the Sun making it one of the brightest stars in the galaxy. It does not dominate our night sky because it is 2,600 light years away, one of the farthest naked eye stars. If Deneb were 25 light years away, it would shine as bright as a crescent moon. Compare that to Vega, its fellow Summer Triangle star. Vega IS 25 light years away and certainly doesn’t rival the light of the crescent Moon. Vega is about two fists to the upper right of Deneb.

Sunday: Stonehenge was created on the island of Great Britain by Neolithic people. “Manhattanhenge” was created on the island of Manhattan by modern day architects and construction workers. Twice a year, the end of May and mid-July, the setting Sun aligns perfectly with the Manhattan grid pattern. That means observers will see the Sun set at the end of the street. The first Manhattanhenge sunset is tonight at 8:13 p.m. Eastern time and then again tomorrow at 8:14 p.m. Eastern time. For more information about Manhattanhenge, go to http://tiny.cc/cd7ytz.

If you can’t visit Manhattan, you can at least get up early and observe Jupiter and Mars very close together in the pre-dawn sky. Mars is about a half a degree below Jupiter. They are both one and a half fists above the east-southeastern horizon.

Monday: Most meteor showers are yearly occurrences that come about due to the Earth annually passing through the orbital path of a comet. The meteors are the tiny bits of the comet left behind, similar to the crumbs left behind by a hiker eating a large cookie. In 1995, Comet 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 3 fractured into many pieces, leaving a trail of fragments in its orbit. Some astronomers think this is the year that those particles make their way in front of the Earth, resulting in a large meteor shower tonight. Or maybe not. Since this is the first time the swarm of particles is near the Earth, scientists don’t have enough information to make a universally agreed upon prediction. But why take chances. The peak, if it occurs, will be at about 10:00 p.m. Pacific Time, to the upper right of the bright star Arcturus, about six fists above due south. For more information about the event, go to https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-news/update-on-a-possible-outburst-of-meteors/.

Tuesday: The questions who, what, where, and when can only be asked with a “W”. At 9:30 p.m., the W-shaped constellation Cassiopeia is nearly 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.

Wednesday: Venus is a little more than a half a fist above the eastern horizon at 4:30 a.m.

Thursday: Altair, the lowest star in the Summer Triangle, is one fist above due east at 10:30 p.m.

Friday: As the weather warms up, people start thinking about swimming in a nice cool body of water. A few years ago, astronomers discovered evidence of an ocean about 20 miles beneath the surface of Saturn’s moon Enceladus. NASA’s Cassini probes measured variations in how the moon’s gravity pulled on the orbiting spacecraft. These variations can be explained by a large amount of liquid water under one section of the ice because liquid water is denser than an equal volume of ice. While you need a very large telescope to see Enceladus, you can easily see Saturn less than a half a fist above the southeast horizon at 1:30 a.m. They are both two and a half fists above the southern horizon at 4:30 a.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.

The Ellensburg, WA sky for the week of May 21, 2022

Saturday: In 1979, the group Foreigner recorded the song “Head Games”. They could have been singing about the constellations Hercules and Ophiuchus when they said “head games, it’s just you and me baby, head games, I can’t take it anymore” because the heads of these two constellations have been right next to each other in the nighttime sky for all of human history. And just to make it easy for you, a star that bears an Arabic name that means “the head” represents each head. In Hercules, it's Ras Algethi (head of the kneeler); in Ophiuchus, Ras Alhague (head of the serpent charmer). At 11:00 p.m., Ras Alhague, the brighter of the two, is about two fists held upright and at arms length above the east-southeastern horizon. Ras Algethi is about a half a fist to the upper right of Ras Alhague.

Sunday: The moon is passing by all of the morning planets this week. At 4:30 a.m. today, Saturn is a half a fist above the moon, low in the southeastern sky.

Monday: Are you thirsty? I'll wait while you get some water. I will NOT wait while Corvus the crow gets you some water. The Greco-Roman god Apollo made this mistake. He sent Corvus the crow to get some water in the cup known as Crater. Some figs distracted Corvus and he waited for them to ripen so he could eat them. When Corvus got back late, Apollo put Corvus and Crater in the sky with the gently tipping cup just out of the reach of the perpetually thirsty crow. Corvus is a trapezoid-shaped constellation about two fists above due south at 9:30 p.m. Crater is just to the right of Corvus.

Tuesday: Are you up at 2:13 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.

Wednesday: Jupiter and Mars are about one fist to the upper left of the moon at 4:30 a.m., low in the southeastern sky.

Thursday: Did you know you can see Venus during the day? It is bright enough. The trick, of course, is knowing where to look. Venus is about a half a fist from the moon throughout the day. At 10:30 a.m., when the pair are highest in the sky, five fists above due south, Venus is about a half a fist to the upper left of the moon. First use binoculars to see Venus. To do this, orient your binoculars so the moon is in the lower right portion of your field of view. Venus will be in the upper left. Now slowly lower your binoculars, keeping your gaze in the direction of Venus. Note where it is compared to the moon. Look away and then look back towards the moon and Venus to try to find it again.

Friday: Are you thirsty when you get up in the morning? I know you are not waiting for Corvus. That’s okay because the Big Dipper is positioned to hold water in the morning sky. Look three fists above the northwest horizon at 4:30 a.m. You’ll see three stars that make a bent handle and four stars that make a cup.

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.

The Ellensburg, WA sky for the week of May 7, 2022

Saturday: Give me an “M”. Give me a “3”. What does that spell? “M3.” “Big deal,” you say. It was a big deal to French comet hunter Charles Messier (pronounced Messy A). M3 was the 3rd comet look-alike that Messier cataloged in the late 1700s. M3 is a globular cluster, a cluster of over 100,000 stars that is 32,000 light years away. It is too dim to be seen with the naked eye but is fairly easy to find with binoculars. First find Arcturus five and a half fists held upright and at arm’s length above due southeast at 10:30 p.m. Move your binoculars up one binocular field of view so two stars of nearly identical brightness are in your field of view. When the top star is in the lower left part of your field of view, there should be a fuzzy patch near the center of your field of view. This is M3.

Sunday: So you think your mother has issues on Mother’s Day because she has you as a child? Her issues can’t be as bad as Cassiopeia’s issues. First, she was chained to a chair for boasting about her beauty. Second, she has to revolve around the North Star night after night. Third, her daughter Andromeda was nearly killed by a sea monster. Look for poor Cassiopeia about one and a half fists held upright and at arm’s length above the northern horizon at 10:00 p.m. Cassiopeia looks like a stretched out “W”.

Monday: Regulus is about a half a fist to the lower right at 9:00 p.m.

Tuesday: Mercury is a half a fist above the west-northwestern horizon at 9:00 p.m.

Wednesday: Mars’ two small moons, Phobos and Deimos, are not visible in typical backyard telescopes. But they are an interesting study. The former view among astronomers was that both moons are captured asteroids. That makes sense given Mars’ proximity to the asteroid belt. But recent findings by European astronomers indicate that Phobos is very porous and made of material similar to the surface of Mars. This implies that Phobos may consist of chunks of Martian debris that was blasted off by numerous impacts and gravitationally bound together. Unfortunately, the Russian Phobos-Grunt probe launched late 2011 to collect material from Phobos crashed to Earth after malfunctioning. For more information about this recent model of Phobos’ formation, go to https://sci.esa.int/web/mars-express/-/31031-phobos. For more information about Mars, look nearly one and a half fists above the east-southeastern horizon at 5:00 a.m. Saturn is about two fists to the upper right of Mars, above the southeastern horizon.

Thursday: There are two brighter objects in the eastern sky at 5:00 a.m. Venus is about a half a fist above the eastern horizon. Jupiter is less than a fist to the upper right of Venus.

Friday: Spica is a half a fist to the right of the moon at 9:00 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.

The Ellensburg, WA sky for the week of April 30, 2022

Saturday: The Eta Aquarid meteor shower peaks just before dawn on May 4, 5, and 6. Since this meteor shower has a fairly broad peak range, you should start looking before dawn every morning this week. The moon is close to the New phase all week, meaning it won’t obscure the meteors. Meteor showers are named after the constellation from which the meteors appear to originate. The meteors appear to come from a point in the constellation Aquarius near the star Eta. This point is about one fist held upright and at arm’s length above the east horizon at 4:00 a.m. The Eta Aquarid meteors slam into the Earth at about 40 miles per second. They often leave a long trail. The Eta Aquarid meteors are small rocks that have broken off Halley’s Comet. For more information about the Eta Aquarids, go to http://earthsky.org/?p=158833.

Sunday: Mother’s Day is next Sunday. What are you going to get her? Get her a Gem(ma). The star Gemma, also known as Alphekka, is the brightest star in the constellation Corona Borealis, the Northern Crown. Gemma, Latin for jewel, is the central gemstone for the crown. It is four fists above due east at 10:00 p.m.

Monday: Mercury is one fist above the west-northwestern horizon at 9:00 p.m., to the lower right of the waxing crescent moon. The open star cluster The Pleiades is just to the right of Mercury.

Tuesday: Four naked eye planets line up in the morning sky all week at 5:00 a.m. Venus is the brightest, lowest, and farthest to the left. It is a half a fist above the eastern horizon. Jupiter is the second brightest, about a half a fist to the upper right of Venus. Mars is one fist above the east-southeastern horizon. Saturn is one and a half fists above the southeastern horizon.

Wednesday: Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky, is moving towards the horizon and out of the evening sky. It is a half a fist above the southwestern horizon at 9:00 p.m.

Thursday: The daytime is bright and the nighttime is dark. Place the Earth and its atmosphere in fairly close orbit around any star and the daytime rule would still apply. But put the Earth and its atmosphere in orbit around a star at the center of a globular cluster and the night sky would never be dark. Astronomers estimate that the sky would be 10 to 20 times brighter than Earth’s sky when our Moon is full. One of the brightest globular clusters, M3, is six and a half fists above due southeast at 10:45 p.m. It is a little more than one fist above the bright orangeish star Arcturus. It will look like a fuzzy patch in your binoculars. For a hypothetical view of what the night sky would look like at the center of this or a similar globular cluster, go to https://tinyurl.com/yyp88w7x.

Friday: This weekend, celebrate Mother’s Day with the big mom of the sky, Virgo. Ancient Greeks and Romans associated this portion of the sky with their own goddess of the harvest, either Demeter (Greeks) or Ceres (Roman). Demeter was the mother of Persephone and Ceres was the mother of Proserpina. According to myth, each of these daughters was abducted causing their mothers great grief. The first star in Virgo rises in the afternoon. Spica, the bright bluish star in the constellation rises at 7:00 p.m. and is three fists above the south-southeastern horizon at 10:00 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.

The Ellensburg, WA sky for the week of April 23, 2022

Saturday: As the rock group Journey once thought of singing, “Wheel in the sky keeps on turnin’. I know where the Dipper’ll be tomorrow.” Every night, the Big Dipper and Cassiopeia make a wheel in the sky that turns around the North Star in a counter clockwise direction. Every year on April 24 at 10:00 p.m., the Big Dipper is straight overhead and W-shaped Cassiopeia is low on the northern horizon. Every year on April 25 at 10:00 p.m., the Big Dipper is straight overhead and W-shaped Cassiopeia is low on the northern horizon. Every year on April 26 at 10:00 p.m., the Big Dipper is straight overhead and W-shaped Cassiopeia is low on the northern horizon. Oh, am I boring you? Of course, there are subtle charges in the position from night to night. Each northern constellation moves about one degree counterclockwise from one night to the next. But this is not going to change their position in the sky drastically over a few days. So, if you know where the Big Dipper is tonight, you DO know where it’ll be tomorrow. If you are really struggling to understand this concept, Don’t Stop Believin’ in yourself. Just keep studying Faithfully.

Sunday: The Moon is taking a tour of the planets for the next few mornings at 5:00 a.m. This morning Saturn is less than a fist to the upper left of the moon, just above the southeastern horizon.

Monday: This morning, the moon, Mars, and Saturn make a small triangle low in the southeastern sky at 5:00 a.m. Mars is about a fist to the upper left of the moon and Saturn is about a fist to the upper right of the moon.

Tuesday: Mercury is one fist above the west-northwest horizon at 9:00 p.m. Venus is a half a fist above the eastern horizon at 5:00 a.m. These objects are two of our closest celestial neighbors. One hundred years ago tonight, the astronomers Heber Curtis and Harlow Shapley were debating the distances of some of our farthest neighbors: galaxies. Curtis argued that the universe consisted of many galaxies millions of light years away. Shapley thought that the spiral structures seen in telescopes were actually a part of the Milky Way. They also had different views on the size of the Milky Way. Learn more about their debate, called the Great Debate, at https://stardate.org/radio/program/2020-04-24. Learn more about the Milky Way by watching the center of it rise over the southeastern horizon at about 1:00 a.m.

Wednesday: Sure, it’s fun to go to a star party. But what if the star party could come to you? Today at 20:00 UTC, or 1:00 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time, the Stars for All Virtual Star Party will start at the Virtual Telescope project. Watch at  https://www.virtualtelescope.eu/2022/03/31/stars-for-all-online-cosmic-journey-27-april-2022/.

Thursday: In this busy world, it is important to know what time it is. We have many devices that give us the time. A phone. A computer. A watch. But who has time to build a phone, computer or even a watch. Not you. But everyone has enough time to build a simple Sun Clock. All you need is a pencil, a compass and a print out of the clock template. Go to https://www.exploratorium.edu/science_explorer/sunclock.html for more information. 

Friday: Orion stands low in the southwestern sky. At 9:00 p.m., the middle of Orion’s belt is one and a half fists held upright and at arm’s length above the west-southwest horizon. And talk about belt tightening! Alnilam, the middle star in the belt, is losing mass at a rate of about 100 thousand trillion tons a day. That’s a 1 followed by 17 zeros tons per day.

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. 

The Ellensburg, WA sky for the week of April 16, 2022

Saturday: “Oooo, they’re little runaways. Orion’s stars moved fast. Tried to make a getaway. Ooo-oo, they’re little runaways,” sang Bon Jovi in his astronomical hit “Runaway. At least that’s what I hear when I listen to the song. After all, it fits the recently calculated trajectory of AE Aurigae, Mu Columbae, and 53 Arietis. Extrapolating the actual motion of these three stars back in time, they were all in the location of the star-forming region called the Orion Nebula a few million years ago. What kicked these stars out? Not paying rent? Excessive partying? No, it was simply gravitational interactions with near-by stars. Find out more about the eviction at http://goo.gl/UeLwKQ. The Orion Nebula is visible with the naked eye from a very dark site, about one and a half fists held upright and at arm’s length above the west-southwestern horizon at 9:00 p.m.

Sunday: Mercury is about a half a fist above the west-northwestern horizon at 8:45 p.m.

Monday: Four naked eye planets line up low in the east-southeastern sky at 5:30 am. Jupiter is closest to due east, just above the eastern horizon. Very bright Venus is a little more than a half a fist above the east-southeastern horizon and a fist to the upper right of Jupiter. Mars is a fist to the upper right of Venus and Saturn is about a fist to the upper right of Mars

Tuesday: It is often said that Earth is a water world because about 70% of the Earth’s surface is covered by water. What would it look like if all that water on the surface were gathered up into a ball? That “ball” would be about 700 km in diameter, less than half the diameter of the Moon. The Astronomy Picture of the day shows us right here https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap120515.html.

Wednesday: The bright star Vega is one fist above due northeast at 10:00 p.m.

Thursday: Remember the old saying: April showers bring… meteors. The Lyrid meteor shower peaks this week, with the peak of the peak occurring tonight and tomorrow night before midnight. The meteors appear to come from a point to the right of the bright bluish star Vega in the constellation Lyra the lyre. This point is about three fists held upright and at arm’s length above the east-northeast horizon at midnight tonight and close to straight overhead near dawn. The best time to this year is between 11:00 p.m. and moonrise at about 3:00 a.m. Typically, this is one of the least interesting major meteor showers of the year, with 10-20 bright, fast meteors per hour. However, it is also one of the most unpredictable. As recently as 1982, there were 90 meteors visible during a single hour. In addition, the Lyrid meteor shower has historical interest because it was one of the first ones observed. Chinese records say “stars fell like rain” in the shower of 687 B.C. As your Mother might say, dress warm and sit in a comfortable chair for maximum enjoyment. Meteors are tiny rocks that hit the Earth and burn up in the atmosphere. For more information, go to http://earthsky.org/?p=158735.

Friday: Do people think you have a magnetic personality? The star Cor Caroli understands how you feel. Cor Caroli has one of the strongest magnetic fields among main sequence stars similar to our Sun. This strong magnetic field is thought to produce large sunspots that cause the brightness of Cor Caroli to vary. Cor Caroli is nearly straight overhead at midnight.

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.

The Ellensburg, WA sky for the week of April 9, 2022

Saturday: “Lately, I’ve been, I’ve been losing sleep. Dreaming about the things that we could be. But baby, I’ve been, I’ve been praying hard, said no more counting dollars. We’ll be counting 9,096 stars, yeah we’ll be counting 9,096 stars.” Luckily, artistic judgment prevailed over scientific precision in the OneRepublic hit “Counting Stars”. According to the Yale Bright Star Catalog, there are 9,096 stars visible to the naked eye across the entire sky if you are observing from a very dark site. In the northern United States, where a part of the sky is never visible, that number drops to about 6,500. In the middle of a small city at mid-latitudes, like Ellensburg, that number drops to a few hundred. No wonder someone has been losing sleep. Learn more about the star count at http://goo.gl/nt8d80.

Sunday: Jupiter and Neptune will be close together in the dawn sky all week. The dance will be a treat to follow with a small telescope and also pretty interesting with binoculars held steady with a tripod. This morning at 5:45, find Jupiter just above the eastern horizon. If you have a small telescope, you’ll be able to see Europa and Io to the lower left of Jupiter with Ganymede and Callisto to the upper right. Neptune is farther to the lower left. Over the next few days, Neptune will move to the upper right compared to Jupiter.

Monday: April is Global Astronomy Month. Find events throughout the month at https://www.astronomerswithoutborders.org/programs/global-astronomy-month. This morning at 7:00 am Pacific Daylight Time (14:00 UTC), learn how astronomy has played a role in the development of cultures and society throughout the world. View the event at https://www.facebook.com/astronomerswithoutborders. 

Tuesday: You may have noticed a few other bright points of light low in the predawn eastern sky. Venus, the brightest point of light in the sky, is one fist above the east-southeastern horizon. Mars is about one fist to the upper right of Venus. Saturn is about a half a fist to the upper right of Mars.

Wednesday: Astronomers are often fascinated with large objects. Planets that could hold 1000 Earths (Jupiter). Stars that would fill up the entire inner Solar System (Betelgeuse). Galaxies with 400 billion stars (Milky Way). But what about the smallest objects? One of the smallest stars is Proxima Centauri, the closest known star other than our Sun. It is about 12% of the mass of the Sun. Earlier this year, astronomers announced the discovery of a possible third planet orbiting Proxima Centauri indicating that even very small stars can have planets. The smallest theoretically possible star would be about 7.5% of the mass of the Sun. Any smaller and it could not support the nuclear reactions characteristic of stars. For more on small stars, go to http://goo.gl/EHBdOX.

Thursday: The Lyrid meteor shower peaks late next week. But there will be increased meteor activity in the vicinity of the constellation Lyra until then. The meteors appear to come from a point to the right of the bright bluish star Vega in the constellation Lyra the lyre. This point is about three fists held upright and at arm’s length above the east-northeast horizon at midnight and close to straight overhead near dawn. Go to https://earthsky.org/?p=158735 for more information.

Friday: “The crow rises in the southeast,” said spy number one. “I’m sorry. I don’t recognize that code,” replied spy number two. Spy one exclaimed, “That’s because it’s not a code, you idiot. I’m talking about the constellation Corvus the crow.” This very bad spy movie dialogue is to remind you that Corvus had a very bad life. According to one myth, Corvus brought the god Apollo the news that his girlfriend was seeing someone else. In a classic case of punishing the messenger, Apollo turned the formerly beautifully colored crow black. The box-shaped Corvus is one fist above the southeastern horizon at 9:00 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.