The Ellensburg sky for the week of 12/28/13

Saturday: Did you get a new telescope for Christmas? Skyandtelescope.com has a good article on how to get started using it. Go to http://goo.gl/2cJwo. Any observing tip to the night sky should include Jupiter. Jupiter is three fists held upright and at arm’s length above the east horizon at 8 p.m. tonight. A small telescope should reveal Jupiter’s cloud belts and its four largest moons. Last year, the Hubble Space Telescope discovered plumes of water vapor spewing from the surface of Europa, one of these large moons. Astronomers have long thought that Europa has a liquid water ocean below its thick icy crust. But this is the first discovery of water vapor near Europa. For more information about the plumes, go to http://goo.gl/0FaVs8.

Sunday: Saturn is one fist to the upper right of the moon at 7 a.m.

Monday: Venus is about a half a fist above the southwest horizon at 5 p.m.

Tuesday: Forget about that big bright ball in Times Square. You can mark the start of the new year with one of the sky’s own big bright balls. That perennial favorite New Year’s Day marker, Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky, rises to its highest point in the sky a little after midnight on January 1. Thus, when Sirius starts to “fall”, the new year has begun. Look for Sirius about two and a half fists above due south at midnight.

Wednesday: Today is the day we celebrate the anniversary of something new – a new classification of celestial objects. Giuseppe Piazzi discovered Ceres [pronounced sear’-ease], the first of what are now called “asteroids”, on January 1, 1801. Ceres is the largest asteroid in the belt between Mars and Jupiter. At first, Piazzi thought it was a star that didn’t show up on his charts. But, he noted its position changed with respect to the background stars from night to night. This indicated to him that it had to be orbiting the Sun. The International Astronomical Union promoted Ceres to the status of “dwarf planet” in August of 2006.

Thursday: Today’s early morning weather forecast: showers. Meteor showers, that is. The Quadrantid meteor shower peaks late tonight and early tomorrow morning between midnight and dawn. Meteor showers are named after the constellation from which the meteors appear to originate. That makes this shower mysterious because there isn’t any constellation with this name now. The shower was named after Quadrans Muralis, an obsolete constellation found in some early 19th century star atlases. These meteors appear to come from a point in the modern constellation Draco the dragon. This point is about three fists above the northeast horizon at 1 a.m. This year, the waning moon will be rising just before the peak observation time so the dimmer meteors will be obscured by moonlight. Meteors are tiny rocks that hit the Earth and burn up in the atmosphere. Most meteors are associated with the path of a comet. This shower consists of the debris from an asteroid discovered in 2003. Keeping with the comet-origin paradigm, astronomers think the asteroid is actually an “extinct” comet, a comet that lost all of its ice as it passed by the Sun during its many orbits.

Friday: Has it been tough to wake up this past week? It should have been because the sunrise has been getting a little later since summer started. I know. I know. December 21 was the shortest day of the year. But, because the Earth’s orbit around the Sun is elliptical and not circular, the Earth does not travel at a constant speed. It moves faster when it is closer to the Sun and slower when it is farther away. This leads to the latest sunrise occurring around the first of January and the earliest sunset occurring in early December, not on the first day of winter, the shortest day of the year. On the first day of winter, however, the interval between sunrise and sunset is the shortest. For more information, go to http://goo.gl/SJC5r.

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 sky for the week of 12/21/13

Saturday: At 9:11 a.m., the Sun reaches its lowest point in the sky with respect to the background stars. This point is called the Winter Solstice. During the day that the Sun reaches this point, your noontime shadow is longer than any other day of the year. Also, the Sun spends less time in the sky on the day of the Winter Solstice than any other day making this the shortest day of the year. Even though it is the shortest day of the year, it is not the day with the latest sunrise or the earliest sunset. The latest sunrise is during the first week in January and the earliest sunset is during the second week in December. The Sun is at its southernmost point with respect to the background stars on the day of the winter solstice. This means the Sun spends the least amount of time above the horizon on that day. But, the Sun rise and set time depends on more than its apparent vertical motion. It also depends on where the Sun is on the analemma, that skinny figure-8 you see on globes and world maps. During the second week in December, the Sun is not quite to the bottom of the analemma.  But, it is on the first part of the analemma to go below the horizon. During the first week in January, it is on the last part of the analemma to rise above the horizon. For more information on this, go to http://goo.gl/KpbkTf.

Sunday: I know you’re staying up late to train yourself to wait up for Santa. So look out a south-facing window at 1 a.m. and see Sirius, the brightest star in the nighttime sky, as high as it ever gets in the sky. It is two and a half fists held upright and at arm’s length above due south.

Monday: Are you gaining a few pounds from too many Christmas cookies? The planet Venus isn’t. It has a thin crescent shape this month. Not because of willpower. No, Venus wants to chow down. Venus is a thin crescent because most of the illuminated side of Venus us facing away from us. Just like the moon, Venus has phases. For the next few weeks, Venus is close to being directly between the Earth and the Sun so we are looking at the Venus’s back side. Its thin, crescent shaped back side.  Look for Venus about one fist above the southwest horizon at 5 p.m. To the naked eye, it looks like a bright point of light. But with a small telescope, you can see that it does not look round just like the crescent moon doesn’t look round.

Tuesday: What would that special someone want to see on the back of Santa’s sleigh when she gets up early Christmas morning to eat one of Santa’s cookies? A fruit cake? No. A barbell? Maybe to work off the fruitcake. A subscription to The Daily Record? Of course. But what she really wants is a ring. And if she looks out a south-facing window, she’ll see her ring. Saturn the ringed planet, that is. Saturn is two fists above the south horizon at 7 a.m.

Wednesday: Where is the one who has been born King of the Jews? We saw Jupiter being eclipsed by the Moon in the east and have come to worship him” (Matthew 2:2, Bruce Palmquist version, informed by Michael Molnar). There are many theories as to the physical explanation of the Star of Bethlehem, the celestial object that guided the wise men to the location of Jesus. Some people think it was a recurring nova, a star that explodes. Some think it was a close alignment of bright planets. Some think it was a miracle that requires no physical explanation. In 1991, astronomer Michael Molnar bought an ancient Roman Empire coin that depicted a ram looking back at a star. Aries the ram was a symbol for Judea, the birthplace of Jesus. The Magi, or “wise men”, who visited the baby Jesus practiced astrology and would have been looking in that region of the sky for the king prophesied in the Old Testament. Molnar, a modern day wise person, used sky simulation software to model the positions of planets and the Moon in the region of Aries. According to his model, Jupiter was eclipsed, or blocked, by the Moon on the morning of April 17, 6 BC. Molnar’s theory is supported by a book written by the astrologer of Constantine the Great in 334 AD. The book describes an eclipse of Jupiter in Aries and notes a man of divine nature born during this time. See http://www.eclipse.net/~molnar/ for more information.

Aries and Jupiter make an appearance in the Christmas sky tonight. At 8 p.m., the dim constellation Aries is about six and a half fists above due south and Jupiter is about three fists above the east horizon.

Thursday: Mars is about four fists above the south horizon at 6:30 a.m.

Friday: Columbia the dove, representing the bird Noah sent out to look for dry land as the flood waters receded, is perched just above the ridge south of Ellensburg. Its brightest star Phact is about one fist above the south horizon at 11 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 sky for the week of 12/14/13

Saturday: The moon is spending a fun-filled Saturday night with seven sisters. (Don’t tell Mrs. Moon.) At 7 p.m., the open star cluster called the Pleiades, or the seven sisters, is less than one fist to the upper left of the moon. They stay close together the whole night, finally snuggling under the covers, I mean setting, at about 6 a.m. tomorrow. Expect the moon to sleep on the couch tomorrow night.

Sunday: Tonight, the moon is hiding out in the Hyades star cluster, near the bright star Aldebaran. After spending last night with seven sisters, the moon is spending time with someone less vibrant. In Inuit astronomy, Aldebaran is known as the spirit of the polar bear. At 6 p.m., they are about two fists held upright and at arm’s length above due east with Aldebaran about a thumb width to the lower right of the moon.

Monday: The full moon occurs late tonight at about 1:30 a.m. When the Moon is full, it is difficult to see dim objects in the sky because of the sky glow. But why struggle to find dim objects when there is so much to see on the big, bright object in front of you? The lunar crater called Tycho is best seen during a full Moon. Tycho was formed about 109 million years ago when an asteroid struck the Moon, leaving a crater over 50 miles in diameter and ejected dust trails that radiate out hundreds of miles in all directions. For more lunar highlights, go to

http://nightsky.jpl.nasa.gov/docs/ObserveMoon.pdf, a resource of the Night Sky Network.

Tuesday: Today is Saturnalia, an ancient Roman festival in honor of their god Saturn, the god of agriculture and time. The holiday featured a break from work and school, a public banquet, and private gift giving. Some of these customs influenced the secular aspects of Christmas celebrations. Celebrate Saturnalia at 6:30 a.m. by viewing the planet Saturn, one and a half fists above due southeast. Seeing the real Saturn on the morning of December 17? As Leonard said on The Big Bang Theory, “It’s a Saturnalia miracle.”

Wednesday: This is a moon-intensive week. Tonight we’ll follow the moon as it moves near the planet Jupiter and the bright stars Procyon, Pollux, and Castor. At 9 p.m., Jupiter is a half a fist to the upper left of the moon and Procyon is about a fist below it. Pollux and Castor are on the opposite of Jupiter from the moon.

Thursday: On these cold mornings, it is difficult to get going. You just want to plop into a chair and sit still. But, are you really sitting still? You’re moving at about 700 miles per hour due to the rotation of the Earth on its axis and 66,000 miles per hour due to the revolution of the Earth around the Sun. If that’s not enough, the entire solar system is orbiting the center of the galaxy at a whopping 480,000 miles per hour! So while you may be sitting still with respect to your living room (and all of the over achievers in your house), you are NOT sitting still with respect to the center of the galaxy. For more information about this concept, go to http://goo.gl/lPVPS. Before you barf from all of that motion, go outside at 6:30 a.m. and observe Saturn, less than a fist above the moon in the southeast sky. Because of Saturn’s rapid rotation, only 10.5 hours, it appears visible flattened.

Friday: Venus is a fist above the southwest horizon at 5 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 sky for the week of 12/7/13

Saturday: The earliest sunset of the year occurs today and throughout the next week, 4:13 p.m. This seems odd because the shortest day of the year, the winter solstice, isn’t for about two more weeks. The Sun is at its southernmost point with respect to the background stars on the day of the winter solstice. This means the Sun spends the least amount of time above the horizon on that day. But, the sunrise and sunset times depend on more than its apparent southward motion in the sky. It also depends on where the Sun is on the analemma, that skinny figure-8 you see on globes and world maps. During the second week in December, the Sun is not quite to the bottom of the analemma. But, it is on the leading edge of the analemma, the first section to go below the horizon. For a slightly different explanation about this, go to http://goo.gl/kjnHP. Or just go watch the sunset. But don’t stare at the Sun.

Sunday: The Christmas season is a time of love, joy, and Lovejoy. Comet Lovejoy, that is. The “Comet of the Century”, Comet ISON, disintegrated as it passed near the Sun. So it is time to focus on the “Comet of the Season”. Comet Lovejoy is visible with the naked eye under very dark skies and visible with binoculars even as dawn approaches. Go outside at 6 a.m. this morning and look three fists held upright and at arm’s length above the east-northeast horizon. You should see a keystone-shaped set of four moderately bright stars. These represent part of the constellation of Hercules. Find the brightest of the four stars, the one in the upper right corner, and put it at the bottom of your binocular field of view. Comet Lovejoy will be near the middle of your field of view with its tail stretching from upper left to lower right. For a detailed chart to help you find Comet Lovejoy, go to http://goo.gl/TWQIHw.

Monday: Venus is more than one fist above the southwest horizon at 5 p.m. You can’t miss it because it is brighter than it has been all year.

Tuesday: Do you like to look in a nursery and say, “it’s a boy” or “it’s a girl”? Not me. I say, “It’s a star”. Of course, I like looking into a stellar nursery – a star-forming region such as the Orion Nebula in the middle of Orion’s sword holder. The Orion Nebula looks like a fuzzy patch to the naked eye. Binoculars reveal a nebula, or region of gas and dust, that is 30 light years across. The center of the nebula contains four hot “baby” stars called the Trapezium. These hot stars emit the ultraviolet radiation that causes the Nebula’s gas to glow. The Orion Nebula is three fists above the southeast horizon at 11 p.m.

Wednesday: If trying to find Comet Lovejoy frustrated you, there are easier morning targets. Mars is four fists above the south-southeast horizon at 6 a.m. Saturn is one fist above the southeast horizon.

Thursday: The Geminid meteor shower peaks for the next two nights. Meteor showers are named after the constellation from which the meteors appear to originate. These meteors appear to come from a point in Gemini the twins. This point is about three fists held upright and at arm’s length above the east-northeast horizon at 9 p.m. tonight. You can follow this point throughout the night, as it will remain near the bright star Castor, the right hand star of the “twin” stars Pollux and Castor. This shower is typically one of the best ones of the year producing bright, medium speed meteors with up to 80 meteors per hour near the peak. This year, the moon will be in the waxing gibbous phase, reflecting sunlight that will obscure some of the dimmer meteors.

Most meteor showers occur when the Earth passes through the orbital trail of a comet. The broken off comet fragments collide with the earth and burn up in the atmosphere. Astronomers had searched for a comet source for this shower since 1862 when the shower was first observed. Finally, in 1983, astronomers discovered the object that created the fragments that cause the meteor shower. To their surprise, it was a dark, rock that looked like an asteroid, not a shiny icy comet. Astronomers named this object Asteroid 3200 Phaethon. But, they still don’t know if it an asteroid or if it is a comet with all of its ice sublimated away by many close passes by the Sun. For more information about 3200 Phaethon and the Geminid shower, go to http://goo.gl/LuwGW.

Friday: Today is Friday the 13th and you know what that means. Bad luck as evidenced by many paper cuts from people trying to tear that day off of their desk calendar as quickly as possible. Celebrate the day by looking at Aldebaran, the 13th brightest star in the nighttime sky. It is three fists above the east horizon at 7 p.m. Jupiter is in the same part of the sky, less than one fist above the east-northeast horizon.

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 sky for the week of 11/30/13

Saturday: “Hey baby! What’s your sign?”

“Ophiuchus, of course”

The Sun is in the same part of the sky as the stars of Ophiuchus from about November 29 to December 17. This is what astrologers mean when they say the Sun is “in” a constellation. Thus, if you were born between these dates, you should be an Ophiuchus. The fact that the horoscopes never list Ophiuchus is a major flaw of astrology. Astrology says that some of our characteristics are based on the location of the Sun at our birth. How can astrologers leave out three weeks from their system? That is like a scientist saying she can explain the results of her experiment every month of the year except early December. Ophiuchus was a mythical healer who was a forerunner to Hippocrates. According to myth, he could raise people from the dead. Maybe that is why he is ignored by astrology. Raising people from the dead is much less impressive than giving spot-on advice such as “Today is a good day to watch your finances.”

The bright stars of Ophiuchus rise just before the Sun. Rasalhague (pronounced Ras’-al-hay’-gwee), the brightest star, is about a half a fist held upright and at arm’s length above the east-northeast horizon at 6:30 a.m.

Sunday: How would you like a moon sandwich for breakfast? This morning’s waning crescent moon is sandwiched between two planets low in the southeastern sky at 6:45 a.m. Saturn is a half a fist to the upper right of the moon and Mercury is less than a half a fist to the lower left of the moon.

Monday: Jupiter is two fists above the east horizon at 9 p.m.

Tuesday: Have you been shopping all weekend? Do you need an evening sky break? You deserve a big reward so make it a double. A Double Cluster, that is. The Double Cluster, also known as h and Chi Persei, consists of two young open star clusters in the constellation Perseus. Of course, young is a relative term as these clusters are about 13 million years old. Each cluster is spread out over an area about the same size as the full moon. To the naked eye, the Double Cluster shines with a steady, fuzzy glow. Binoculars resolve dozens of individual stars in the clusters. The Double Cluster is six fists above the northeast horizon at 6 p.m., about a fist below the sideways “W” of Cassiopeia and three fists above the bright star Capella.

Wednesday: For the next two evenings, the bright planet Venus will be near the moon. Tonight it is about a fist and a half to the left of the moon. Tomorrow night, it is less than a fist below the moon.

Thursday: Mars is four and a half fists above the south-southeast horizon at 6:30 a.m. If you are more of a night owl, you can look for it a half a fist above the east horizon at 1:30 a.m.

Friday: Is that favorite astronomy-loving relative of yours asking for a telescope this Christmas? Well, she’s your favorite so get her what she wants with cost being no object. But if that so-so relative of yours would like a telescope, look no further than this Sky and Telescope article about low cost telescopes http://goo.gl/40zd6. The authors review and recommend three telescopes for under $100 at the time of publication. If your hated acquaintance wants an astronomy gift, show them a copy this column. After such a dud “gift”, you’ll never hear from them again. And that may be the best gift of all.

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 sky for the week of 11/23/13

Saturday: The Nature of Night event takes place from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Science Building on the CWU campus. There will be planetarium shows, fun nighttime projects, telescopes, animals, cookies and much more. Have you ever wanted to meet an owl? You can at this event. The event is free. You could go to http://www.cwu.edu/cesme/nature-night for more information. But why go to a computer. Instead, go directly to the Science Building, I-8 on the map found at http://www.cwu.edu/newmap.html. The Center for Excellence in Science and Mathematics Education gets help from various community organizations to put on this event.

Sunday: Are you disappointed because you are not going anywhere for Thanksgiving? Why not take a (virtual) trip to outer space using Google’s new visualization tool called 100,000 Stars. It shows the stars in our neighborhood in a very good simulation of 3-D. The Sun is initially at the center. If you zoom in, you can click on neighboring stars and learn more about them. For more information and a link to the tool, go to http://goo.gl/hg6Oc.

Monday: Jupiter is one and a half fists held upright and at arm’s length above the east-northeast horizon at 9 p.m.

Tuesday: The moon has some bright neighbors this morning at 6 a.m. Mars is a little more than a fist to the left of the moon. And Regulus is a little more than a fist to the upper right of the moon.

Wednesday: Are you thankful that you live in a solar system with multiple planets? You should be. A giant planet like Jupiter cleans up planetary debris that could have collided with Earth and hindered the formation of complex life. Any inhabitants of the planets orbiting Upsilon Andromedae are thankful for this, as well. Upsilon Andromedae, a star in the constellation Andromeda, was the first Sun-like star discovered to have multiple planets orbiting it. So far, all of its planets are giant planets like Jupiter. But, the system is likely to also contain smaller planets. The dim star, but certainly not its planets, is barely visible straight overhead at 9 p.m.

Thursday: Some of us have a lot to be thankful for on Thanksgiving. But, probably not as much as Andromeda had to be thankful for. According to Greek mythology, the beautiful princess Andromeda was chained to a rock next to the ocean. Cetus the sea monster was about to devour her in order to punish her family. Her mother Queen Cassiopeia and her father King Cepheus didn’t know what to do. It seemed that all was lost. But, along came Andromeda’s boyfriend, the great warrior Perseus. Even though Perseus’ standing as the son of King Zeus and the slayer of Medusa was probably enough to win Andromeda under normal circumstances, Andromeda’s impending death-by-sea-monster was not a normal circumstance. So, Perseus drove his sword into the sea monster’s neck and killed it. This was the first time in recorded history that a set of parents actually welcomed an uninvited Thanksgiving visit from the boyfriend. Perseus is about five fists above the east-northeast horizon and Andromeda is about seven fists above the east horizon at 7 p.m.

Friday: Spica is about a finger’s width to the lower left of the moon at 6 a.m. People in some parts of Alaska will see the moon occult, or block, Spica.

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 sky for the week of 11/16/13

Saturday: The Leonid meteor shower peaks tonight and tomorrow morning. These meteors appear to come from a point in the constellation Leo the lion. This point is about one fist held upright and at arm’s length above the east-northeast horizon at midnight tonight. You can follow this point throughout the night and into the morning, as it will remain about one fist above the bright star Regulus. The Leonid meteors are particles from the tail of Comet Tempel-Tuttle, a comet discovered by Ernst Tempel and Horace Parnell Tuttle around January 1, 1866. Go to http://goo.gl/OPP6D to see a picture of Comet Tempel-Tuttle. As your Mother might say, dress warm and sit in a comfortable chair for maximum enjoyment. Even if there are only a dozen meteors visible per hour, you’ll want to enjoy it.

Sunday: Humm. Early Sunday morning choices. Roll out of bed just before church. Or get up early to see Comet ISON. The comet, discovered in 2012, brightened significantly last week and is approaching naked eye status in the early morning sky. This morning at 6 a.m., ISON will be about a finger width above the bright star Spica, a fist and a half above the southeast horizon. Tomorrow morning at 6 a.m., ISON will be just below Spica, heading towards its closest approach to the Sun on November 28. By early December, Comet ISON should be visible in the early evening sky. For updates on Comet ISON’s location and activity, go to http://www.spaceweather.com/. By the way, ISON stands for International Scientific Optical Network, a series of telescopes in 11 countries. And, yes, you should get up early to see ISON. Use binoculars to increase your chances.

Monday: When you think of space, the first image that comes to mind is a few large, massive bodies surrounded by a lot of empty space. After all, it is called “outer space”, not “outer stuff”. But that so-called empty space is filled with powerful radiation and high-speed sub-microscopic particles. Much of this is dangerous to life. However, many planets, including Earth, have a shield against radiation and particles called a magnetic field. Jupiter’s magnetic field is the strongest of all the planets. Find Jupiter one fist above the east-northeast horizon at 9 p.m. For more information about magnetic fields, go to http://goo.gl/OYShj.

Tuesday: Venus is one fist above the south-southwest horizon at 5 p.m.

Wednesday: Sunday: Most constellations don’t look like the object their name refers to. Most constellations don’t have such a simple to object to emulate as Triangulum. As you probably guessed, Triangulum is shaped like a princess. Wait…. Just a second…. I read my book wrong. Triangulum is shaped like a thin isosceles triangle. Mothallah is the only named star in the constellation. In Latin this star is called Caput Trianguli, the head of the triangle. Triangulum is seven fists held upright and at arm’s length above the south horizon at 9 p.m. It is pointing down and to the right with Mothallah being the southernmost star at this time of night. The Triangulum Galaxy can be seen with binoculars about a half a fist to the right of Mothallah.

Thursday: You know winter is coming when Orion is visible in the evening sky. It is about a fist above the east-southeast horizon at 9 p.m.

Friday: The Nature of Night event takes place tomorrow from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Science Building on the CWU campus. There will be planetarium shows, fun nighttime projects, telescopes, animals, cookies and much more. Go to http://www.cwu.edu/cesme/nature-night for more information.

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 sky for the week of 11/9/13

Today: The Northern Taurid meteor shower peaks this weekend. You’ll want to stay up late to see the most meteors because the waxing crescent moon doesn’t set until about midnight so the late night sky will be moon-free. Under the best conditions, you can expect about 10 meteors an hour with some of them being bright fireballs. A few weeks ago, the related Southern Taurid meteor shower produced many fireball sightings in the southwest United States. Meteor showers are named after the constellation from which the meteors appear to originate. These meteors appear to come from a point in Taurus the bull, near the open star cluster called the Pleiades. This point is about six fists held upright and at arm’s length above the southeast horizon at 11 p.m. You can follow this point throughout the night, as it will remain one fist the V-shaped Hyades Cluster with its bright star Aldebaran (pronounced Al-deb’-a-ran). Meteors are tiny rocks that burn up in the atmosphere when the Earth runs into them. These rocks are broken off parts of Comet 2P/Encke.

Sunday: “I’m a little teapot short and stout. All this week, Venus is on my spout.” All this week, the bright planet Venus is on the spout of the teapot-shaped asterism Sagittarius. It is one fist above the south-southwest horizon at 5 p.m.

Monday: We wish you a Merry Martinmas. We wish you a Merry Martinmas. We wish you a Merry Martinmas. And a happy Monday. Martinmas is a holiday in many parts of the world commemorating Saint Martin of Tours. He was buried on November 11, 397. What does this have to astronomy? Not much except that the celebration on November 11 often doubles as a cross-quarter day celebration, a day that is halfway between an equinox and a solstice.

Tuesday: Jupiter is one and a half fists above the east-northeast horizon at 10 p.m.

Wednesday: Imagine Opie and Andy Taylor walking down the dirt path at night to that fishing hole in the sky. They’d probably be looking to catch Pisces, the two fish already conveniently tied together with two ropes. The ropes are connected at the star Alrescha, Arabic for “the cord”. Alrescha is four and a half fists above due south at 10:30 p.m. The fish are attached to lines of stars that branch out at one o’clock and three o’clock from Alrescha. By the way, “The Fishing Hole”, The Andy Griffith Show’s theme song, was rated the 20th best TV theme song of all time by ign.com. That’s too low of a rating in my opinion.

Thursday: Have you even seen a Black Hole? Neither have scientists. But they have seen the effects of a Black Hole. Black holes have a strong gravitational influence on anything that passes close to them, including light. Cygnus X-1, the first Black Hole candidate ever discovered, is six fists above the west horizon at 7 p.m., in the middle of the neck of Cygnus the swan. NASA launched the Chandra X-ray observatory in 1999 to study black hole candidates and other high energy events.

Friday: I am guessing that some of you don’t like the line of reasoning from Thursday: that seeing the effects of a Black Hole is good enough to claim there are Black Holes. You have never seen the wind. But, you have seen the effects of the wind. And no Ellensburg resident doubts the existence of the wind.

The positional information in this column about stars and planets is typically accurate for the entire week.

The Ellensburg sky for the week of 11/2/13

Saturday: Don’t forget to “fall back” tonight. Before you fall back on to your bed, set your clock back one hour to the real time. Daylight savings ends early Sunday morning at 2 a.m. This means one more hour of sky watching at night because the Sun will set one hour earlier. Ben Franklin proposed the idea of “saving daylight” by adjusting our clocks way back in 1784. Daylight savings time was first utilized during World War I as a way to save electricity. After the war, it was abandoned. It was reintroduced during World War II on a year-round basis. From 1945 to 1966, some areas implemented daylight savings and some did not. But, it was not implemented with any uniformity as to when it should start and stop. The Uniform Time Act of 1966 codified the daylight savings rules.

Sunday: Lacerta, the faint lizard constellation, is straight overhead at 9 p.m. It was named by the Polish astronomer Johannes Hevelius in 1687 to fill the space between the much brighter and well-defined constellations Pegasus, Andromeda, Cassiopeia, Cepheus, and Cygnus going clockwise from the constellation just south of Lacerta. Chinese know this group of stars as a flying serpent or dragon.

Monday: Jupiter is rising from the northeast horizon at 9 p.m. By 11 p.m., it is two fists above the east horizon.

Tuesday: Venus is about a fist to the left of the crescent moon at 5 p.m. Tomorrow night at this time, Venus will be less than a fist below the moon.

Wednesday: Did you look up Jocelyn Bell Burnell and Antony Hewish based on last week’s Halloween costume suggestion? Jocelyn Bell Burnell is a Northern Irish astrophysicist. As a postdoctoral student, she discovered the first radio pulsar, a super massive rapidly rotating star. Antony Hewish was her supervisor. Hewish and a colleague shared the 1974 Nobel Prize in physics for the discovery while Bell, who made the actual observations, was not listed. Many astronomers criticized this omission, noting that her observation was one of the greatest astronomical discoveries of the twentieth century.

Thursday: While Stonehenge is an ancient burial ground visited by religious people for thousands of years, MIThenge is an 825-foot long hallway on the campus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology visited by the Sun’s rays twice a year.  Every year in November and January, the setting Sun lines up with a narrow window at the end of the long hall and the light shines down to the opposite end. This season’s alignment is from November 10-13. For more information, visit http://goo.gl/0hwFQf or visit MIT.

Friday: When Napoleon Dynamite danced to the Alphaville song, “Forever Young” at his prom, he didn’t know he might have been learning about the giant asteroid Vesta. According to the latest pictures from the Dawn spacecraft, Vesta is continually stirring up its outermost layer bringing fresh material to the surface. This makes Vesta look “forever young, Vesta wants to be forever young. Vesta wants to live forever, forever, and ever.” Go to http://www.universetoday.com/98284/vesta-looks-forever-young/ for more information. Vesta is visible with binoculars, about midway between Mars and Spica, three fists above the east-southeast horizon at 5:30 a.m. Mars is the bright and reddish point of light four fists above the southeast horizon. NASA built and launched Dawn in 2007 for less than half the cost of a new NFL football stadium. Its mission is to study the early solar system by gathering data from two asteroids that have remained relatively unchanged from their formation.

The positional information in this column about stars and planets is typically accurate for the entire week.

The Ellensburg sky for the week of 10/26/13

Saturday: Dead October flowers lead to November meteor showers. While the Leonid meteor shower is the big name event, the few bright and surprisingly colorful fireballs per hour you can see during the typical Southern and Northern Taurids meteor showers may make it worth your while to stay up. These two showers overlap from about October 19 to November 19. Meteor showers are named after the constellation from which the meteors appear to originate. These meteors appear to come from a point in Taurus the bull. This point is about four fists held upright and at arm’s length above the southeast horizon at 11 p.m. You can follow this point throughout the night, as it will remain one fist to the right of the V-shaped Hyades Cluster with its bright star Aldebaran (pronounced Al-deb’-a-ran). Meteors are tiny rocks that burn up in the atmosphere when the Earth runs into them. These rocks are broken off parts of Comet 2P/Encke.

Sunday: The Stargate movies and TV shows have access to a portal to other planets. Harry Potter has access to a portal to the Chamber of Secrets. You have access to a Portal to the Universe. This portal is not in Moaning Myrtle’s bathroom but on the web at http://www.portaltotheuniverse.org/. It is a repository of up-to-date astronomy news, blogs, and podcasts. A recent story highlights the discovery of a planetary system in which the planets do not orbit around the equator of the star. Astronomers are surprised by this misalignment because it goes against their current theories of solar system formation. Read more about the discovery at http://goo.gl/oI6qeq.

Monday: Jupiter is six fists above the south horizon at 7 a.m.

Tuesday: At 7 a.m., the moon, Mars, and Regulus make a small, nearly equilateral triangle about four fists above due southeast. The bright star Regulus is at the top of the triangle.

Wednesday: Late October to-do list. Buy costume. Check. Watch Orion rise in the east-southeast sky just before midnight. Check. Take kids to Boo Central. Double check. Once again, CWU clubs and organizations will turn the SURC Ballroom into a monstrously fun, safe, and educational place to trick or treat. In fact, it will be “science or treat” for the 4 to 9-year-old kids who visit the CWU astronomy and physics club booths. Boo Central runs from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. in the SURC Ballroom on the CWU campus tomorrow night. Contact Campus Activities at 509-963-1450 for more information.

Thursday: Halloween. The pumpkins. The candy. The children going door-to-door dressed up as their favorite astronomers Jocelyn Bell Burnell and Antony Hewish. At least they should because Halloween is, in part, an astronomical holiday. Halloween is a “cross-quarter date”, a day approximately midway between an equinox and a solstice. Historically, the Celts of the British Isles used cross-quarter dates as the beginnings of seasons. For the Celts, winter began with Halloween. So when all those little Burnells and Hewishs come to your door tomorrow night, honor the Celts and give them a wintry treat. If they ask you for a trick, point out Venus, one fist above the south-southwest horizon at 6 p.m.

Friday: Happy Celtic New Year! Many historians think that this day, known for the festival of Samhain, was the ancient Celtic New Year’s Day. Samhain, Old Irish for “summer’s end”, was a harvest festival that may have contributed to some of the customs of our current “holiday” of Halloween.

The positional information in this column about stars and planets is typically accurate for the entire week.

The Ellensburg sky for the week of 10/19/13

Saturday: Venus is about a fist above the southwest horizon at 6:30 p.m. The bright star Antares is more of a challenge to find, about a half a fist to the lower right of Venus.

Sunday: The Orionid meteor shower consists of the Earth colliding with pieces of the remains of Halley's Comet's tail. This shower peaks for the next two nights and early mornings. This is not a meteor shower that results in a meteor storm. There will be about 15-20 meteors per hour, many more meteors than are visible on a typical night but not the storm that some showers bring. In addition, the nearly full moon will illuminate the sky and obscure the dimmer meteors. Meteor showers are named after the constellation from which the meteors appear to originate. These meteors appear to come from a point in Orion, the hunter. This point is about three fists above the southeast horizon at 1 a.m. tonight. You can follow this point throughout the night as it will remain one fist above the prominent reddish star Betelgeuse (pronounced Bet'-el-jews). The Orionid meteors are fast - up to 40 miles per second. If you fall asleep tonight, you can catch the tail end of the shower every night until early November. For more information, go to http://goo.gl/35wHaN.

Monday: Halloween is next week so make sure you load up on peanut clusters, almond clusters, and open star clusters. That last one will be easy (and cheap… actually free) because two of the most prominent open star clusters in the sky are easily visible in the autumn sky. The sideways V-shaped Hyades Cluster is two fists above due east at 10 p.m. Containing over 300 stars; the Hyades cluster is about 150 light years away and 625 million years old. The Pleiades Cluster, a little more than three fists above due east, is larger at over 1000 stars and younger. Compared to our 5 billion year old Sun, the 100 million year age of the Pleiades is infant-like. The moon will help you find these clusters. This morning at 6:30 a.m., the Pleiades cluster is less than one fist to the upper right of the moon and the Hyades cluster is about one fist to the upper left of the moon. Tomorrow morning, the moon sits in the “V” of the Hyades cluster.

Tuesday: The wintertime constellation Orion is making its way into the evening sky. Nearly the entire constellation has risen by 11:30 p.m. and its bright star Betelgeuse is one fist above due east at 11:20 p.m. You may still see an occasional Orionid meteor for the next two weeks in this region of the sky.

Wednesday: The Milky Way makes a faint white trail from due northeast through straight overhead to due southwest at 9 p.m. Starting in the northeast, the Milky Way “passes through” the prominent constellations Auriga the charioteer, Cassiopeia the queen, and Cygnus the swan with its brightest star, Deneb, nearly straight overhead. After Cygnus, you’ll see Aquila the eagle with its brightest star Altair about four and a half fists above the southwest horizon. As you started your visual journey, you may have noticed Jupiter rising above the east-northeast horizon.

Thursday: Jupiter is less than a fist above the east-northeast horizon at 11 p.m.

Friday: “It’s a wonderful day in the neighborhood.” Constellations can be considered neighborhoods in the nighttime sky. But, the stars in those constellations are not necessarily neighbors in real life. For example, the bright stars in the constellation Cassiopeia range from 19 to over 10,000 light years away from Earth. One constellation that consists of real neighbors is Ursa Major. Or, more specifically, the Big Dipper. Five stars in the Big Dipper are all moving in the same direction in space, are about the same age and are all about 80 light years from Earth. “Please won’t you be my neighbor?” Skat, the third brightest star in the constellation Aquarius is a neighbor to these five Big Dipper stars, all of which are about 30 light years from each other. They are thought to have originated in the same nebula about 500 million years ago. Just like human children do, these child stars are slowly moving away from home. Skat is about three fists above due south at 10 p.m. The much brighter Fomalhaut is a fist and a half below Skat. And, it’s not fun being below Skat.

The positional information in this column about stars and planets is typically accurate for the entire week.

The Ellensburg sky for the week of 10/12/13

Saturday: Look up in the sky. It’s a bird. It’s a plane. It’s a dolphin. A dolphin? The constellation Delphinus the dolphin is nearly six fists held upright and at arm’s length above due south at 8:30 p.m. The constellation’s two brightest stars are called Sualocin and Rotanev, which is Nicolaus Venator spelled backwards. Venator worked at the Palermo Observatory in Italy in the mid nineteenth century. He slipped these names into Giuseppe Piazzi’s star catalog without him noticing. The Daily Record (shop Ellensburg) would never let anything like that get into their newspaper. Their editing (shop Ellensburg) staff is too good. Nothing (pohs grubsnellE) evades their gaze.

Sunday: What do Justin Beiber and Betelgeuse have in common? Both are superstars. One may be around for as long as another few years. The other will be around for only a million more years. Baby, baby, baby, ohh, you need to learn more about Betelgeuse, the real super giant star that is big enough to hold about one million Suns. For more information about Betelgeuse, go to http://goo.gl/7D83D5. You’ll find it one fist above due east at midnight.

Monday: Tire track forensic analysis comes to Mars? It’s not needed yet but the possibility now exists. Mars Curiosity rover took a photo of its own wheel track in a small sandy ridge. Go to http://goo.gl/VwyQh for a photo of the rover’s wheel track compared to a photo Buzz Aldrin’s boot print on the moon. For the next few mornings, Mars is to the upper left of Regulus. Mars is the reddish point of light. At 6 a.m., they’ll be more than three fists above the east-southeast horizon.

Tuesday: Venus is a half a fist above the southwest horizon at 7 p.m. The bright star Antares is about a pinky width to the lower left of Venus.

Wednesday: Jupiter is about a half a fist above the east-northeast horizon at midnight.

Thursday: What time is tea time? Certainly not during an autumn evening. The constellation Sagittarius the archer, with its signature teapot shape, is sinking into the south-southwest horizon by 8 p.m. The handle is on top and the spout is touching the horizon ready to pour that last cup of tea.

Friday: Tonight’s full moon is in the constellation Pisces the fish. Tonight’s other Moon is…. Wait a minute. The Earth has only one Moon. True. And it has always had only one Moon. Not necessarily true. According to the best existing model, about four billion years ago, a Mars-sized object collided with the young Earth. The resulting debris coalesced to form the Moon. However, this model left a mystery: why is the Moon so asymmetric? Hardened-lava lowlands dominate the near side while the far side is dominated by mountainous highlands. According to a recent revision of the prevailing model, the early collision formed a large Moon and a small Moon. Over the years, the small Moon caught up to and collided with the large Moon. The highlands are the material from the collided small Moon. For more information about this theory, go to http://goo.gl/O801zk.

The positional information in this column about stars and planets is typically accurate for the entire week.

The Ellensburg sky for the week of 10/5/13

Saturday: Since Halloween is later this month, the stores are filled with bags of candy clusters. Instead, take time to look at a star cluster. The Hyades cluster is an open star cluster that represents the V-shaped face of Taurus the bull. It is one of the biggest and nearest star clusters with about 200 stars 150 light years away. The Hyades cluster was the first cluster to be the subject of detailed motion studies. These studies allowed astronomers to pinpoint the distance to the Hyades and provide important information about the scale of the universe. Aldebaran, nearly two fists held upright and at arm’s length above the east horizon at 11 p.m., is a foreground star and not a part of the Hyades cluster.

Sunday: The Draconid meteor shower peaks for the next three nights. The meteors appear to come from a point in the head of Draco, the dragon constellation. This point is about five fists held upright and at arm’s above the northwest horizon at 10 p.m. tonight. This point remains near the trapezoid-shaped head of Draco throughout the night. Typically, this is a minor shower. However, Draconid meteors are slow moving which means you will have a easy time differentiating true Draconid meteors, from Comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner, from stray grains of dust that happen to enter the Earth’s atmosphere near where we see the constellation Draco. The moon will set long before the nightly peak so there will be little natural light obscuring the dim meteors. As your Mother might say, dress warm and sit in a comfortable chair for maximum enjoyment. For everything you need to know about the Draconid meteor shower, go to http://goo.gl/HGkw0w.

Monday: Can you see a planet during the day? Sure you can. Look around you at the Earth. But can you see a planet in the sky during the day? Yes, with the help of the moon. At 6 p.m., find the crescent moon one and a half fists above the southwest horizon. Then make a fist and hold it horizontal to the left of the moon. The planet Venus will be on the left side of your fist. If you wait less than an hour, the Sun will have set and you’ll definitely see Venus to the left of the moon and Saturn a little farther to the lower right.

Tuesday: The bright star Arcturus is a fist and a half above the west horizon at 8 p.m.

Wednesday: The constellation Vulpecula, the fox, stands high in the south at nightfall. It is in the middle of the Summer Triangle, which is defined by the stars Vega, Deneb, and Altair. The fox is so faint that you need dark skies to see it.

Thursday: While you are resting after looking for Draconid meteors for two nights, start thinking about the Orionid meteor shower. This shower, which consists of the earth colliding with pieces of the remains of Halley's Comet's tail, peaks on the morning of October 21 but produces meteors from now until early November. These meteors appear to come from a point in Orion, the hunter. This point is about three fists above the southeast horizon at 1 a.m. tonight. You can follow this point throughout the night as it will remain one fist above the prominent reddish star Betelgeuse (pronounced Bet'-el-jews). The Orionid meteors are fast - up to 40 miles per second.

Friday: Tonight’s first quarter moon is in the constellation Sagittarius the archer.

The positional information in this column about stars and planets is typically accurate for the entire week.

The Ellensburg sky for the week of 9/28/13

Saturday: Mnemonics are helpful for remembering astronomy facts. (Similarly, “Johnny Mnemonic”, the 1995 cyberpunk film, was helpful in getting Keanu Reeves’ career going.) After all, school children all around the country are learning the order of the planets by remembering, “My very excellent mother just served us nine….” Oops, I guess that one needs updating. Well, here’s one that will not need updating for nearly 100,000 years: the order of the stars in the Big Dipper. Because the nighttime stars are so far away from us, their actual motion through the sky, called their “proper motion” is not noticeable over even thousands of years. That is why the constellations have remained the same since ancient times. But two stars in the Big Dipper have a proper motion large enough such than in 100,000 years, the stars will no longer make a dipper shape. Until then, you can remember the names of the seven dipper stars in order from handle to cup by remembering this helpful advice for teens: “AM, ask mom. PM, dad”. The stars are Alkaid, Mizar, Alioth, Megrez, Phad, Merek, and Duhbe. The Big Dipper is one fist held upright and at arm’s length above the north horizon at 11 p.m.

Sunday: To the people of Ancient Greece, the stars that are about five and a half fists above the east-northeast horizon at 10 p.m. were known as Cassiopeia and Andromeda, a mythological queen and her daughter. But not all cultures imagined the same pictures in the sky. To the people of Polynesia, the stars of Cassiopeia and Andromeda represented a dolphin, called Kwu. Cassiopeia formed its tail, the brightest stars of Andromeda formed its fins, and its fainter stars outlined the dolphin’s body.

Monday: Three planets are crowded around the setting Sun. Venus, the brightest, is one fist above the southwest horizon. Saturn is about a fist and a half to the right of Venus. Mercury is below Saturn, just barely above the horizon.

Tuesday: Uranus is in opposition tonight. That doesn’t mean that Uranus is in the minority party in the senate. Opposition means that Uranus is on the opposite side of the Earth as the Sun. When an object is in opposition, it is at its highest point in the sky during the darkest time of the day. Thus, opposition is typically the best time to observe a planet. Uranus is about four and a half fists above the south horizon at 1 a.m. It is three and a half fists above the southeast horizon at 10:30 p.m. You’ll need binoculars to find it. First find Deneb Kaitos, the brightest star in the constellation Cetus the sea monster, one and a half fists above the southeast horizon. Deneb Kaitos is the same brightness as the North Star. If you imagine the distance from the horizon to Deneb Kaitos as one unit, move your binoculars straight up from southwest two more of those units. Uranus will be in the center of your field of view. Check that same spot over the next few night. Uranus will move slightly with respect to the distant stars.

Wednesday: Mars is about to get eaten by a lion, a constellation lion. It is right in front of the head of Leo the lion, three fists above the east horizon at 6 a.m.

Thursday: Keep an eye out for Jupiter which is slowly creeping into the pre-midnight sky. Tonight it rises at about 11:45 p.m. By 12:30, it is a half a fist above the east-northeast horizon.

Friday: The constellation Orion is four fists above the south horizon at 6 a.m. The Orion is a cloud of gas and dust visible with binoculars about a half a fist below the “belt” of three stars. If you are feeling especially attracted to the nebula, that might be because astronomers think there may be a black hole in the middle. They have not directly observed the back hole, which would be the closest known one to Earth at a distance of 1,300 light years. But the motion of stars in the region is consistent with them being near a black hole 100 times the mass of the Sun. For more information, go to http://goo.gl/AGjFf.

The positional information in this column about stars and planets is typically accurate for the entire week.

The Ellensburg sky for the week of 9/21/13

Saturday: “You know Aries and Cancer and Draco and Libra. Leo and Pisces and Virgo and Hydra. But, do you recall, the pointiest asterism of all? Triangulum, the three sided asterism, had a very pointy edge….” Sorry. Some stores have started putting up their Christmas decorations and that has put me in the mood to modify some Christmas songs. Anyway, Triangulum is a small constellation between the more prominent Andromeda and Aries. Its main feature is a skinny triangle oriented parallel to and nearly four fists held upright and at arm’s length above the east horizon at 10 p.m.

Sunday: At precisely 1:44 p.m. PDT, the center of the Sun crosses the celestial equator and passes into the southern sky. The celestial equator is an imaginary line that divides the sky into a northern and southern half. When the Sun is in the southern half of the sky, it appears to take a shorter path from rising to setting. It also does not get as high in the sky at noon. This leads to shorter days and longer nights. Since the Sun crosses the celestial equator today, there is an instant when it is equally in the northern and southern sky, called the north and south celestial hemispheres. This so-called “equal night” is given by the Latin word equinox. Thus, today is known as the Autumnal Equinox. However, the day and night are not of equal duration today. The sun rises at 6:50 a.m. and sets at 6:58 p.m. Day and night are closest to equal duration on Tuesday.

Monday: “My laddie, you’re a wee bit close to that launch” is what a stereotypical Scottish person may have said to a frog that watched the recent launch of the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer. The spacecraft, abbreviated LADEE and pronounced “laddie”, was launched on September 6. A remote NASA camera captured an image of a frog jumping at the same time the rocket blasted off. Read more about the launch, and more importantly, the frog at http://goo.gl/YrwkpU. LADEE’s mission is to study the moon’s very thin atmosphere and conditions near the moon’s surface.

Tuesday: To celebrate the start of school at CWU tomorrow, let’s sing a song of the season. “Oh the weather outside is grand. And the fire is rightfully banned. There is really no place to go. Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow. On Mars.” The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has discovered evidence of carbon dioxide snow clouds high above the surface of Mars.  Carbon dioxide, also called “dry ice”, exists in Mars south polar ice cap and requires temperatures of nearly 200 degrees below zero Fahrenheit to form. Astronomers were not sure how this polar cap gets replenished but the discovery of carbon dioxide clouds may provide an answer. For more information, go to http://goo.gl/shMTf. Mars is three fists above the east-southeast horizon at 6 a.m. The weather is certainly not grand on Jupiter, which you can find five and a half fists above the southeast horizon at this time.

Wednesday: Did you time the exact length of the day and night on Saturday, the first day of autumn? They were not equal in duration. Many people think that the day and night are the same duration on the autumnal equinox. The day is a little longer than the night for two reasons. First, the Sun is an extended object so even when the middle part has set, the upper half is still above the horizon lighting the sky. The second, and more influential reason is that the atmosphere acts like a lens, bending light from the Sun above the horizon when the Sun is really still below the horizon. Day and night are closest in duration today.

Thursday: The bright bluish star Vega is nearly straight overhead at 8 p.m.

Friday: The cloudy season is coming to Ellensburg. Don’t feel bad. According to astronomers from the European Southern Observatory, it is always cloudy season on HD 85512b, a newly discovered planet orbiting the star called… wait for it… wait for it… called HD 85512. These astronomers developed a method to estimate the cloud cover on planets orbiting distant stars. They think HD 85512b may be cloudy enough to have liquid water on its surface even though it is fairly close to its host star. While the presence of surface water does not guarantee finding life, it is a critical component. For more information, go to http://goo.gl/bGxMD.

The positional information in this column about stars and planets is typically accurate for the entire week.