The Ellensburg, WA sky for the week of September 19, 2020

Saturday: At 8:30 p.m., Jupiter is two fists held upright and at arm’s length above due south. Saturn is two fists to the left of Jupiter. It’s interesting to see them with the naked eye and enlightening to see them in a small telescope. But if you want to see detailed views of Saturn (https://tinyurl.com/y3twzqm3) and Jupiter (https://tinyurl.com/y2b7p5h2), follow the links or go to the Hubble Space Telescope website at https://www.spacetelescope.org. 

Sunday: You see something in the sky so you go through a checklist to identify it.

Red. Check

Bright. Check

Typically in the southern sky. Check

At this point, you and your rival have a debate. You say it is Mars and your rival says it is the red supergiant Antares. That’s fitting because the name Antares means “rival of Mars”. (Ares is the Greek god corresponding to the Roman god, Mars. “Ant-” is a prefix meaning opposite or rival of.) There’s no need to fight tonight because both are visible. Antares is one fist above the southwestern horizon at 8:00 p.m., to the lower left of the Moon. Mars is rising at about this same time and is about two fists above the eastern horizon by 10:00 p.m. For more on Antares, go to

https://skyandtelescope.org/observing/meet-antares-the-star-that-is-not-mars/.

Monday: The bright star Capella is two fists above due northeast at 11:00 p.m.

Tuesday: At 6:32 a.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. in the northern latitudes of the United States. At these latitudes, day and night are closest to equal duration on Thursday.

Wednesday: According to “One world, group hug, love everyone” philosophy, political borders are human-made and can’t be seen from space so why can’t we all just get along. According to real world pragmatic discoveries, some human-made political borders CAN be seen from space. Since 2003, India has illuminated its border with Pakistan to prevent illegal crossings. In 2011, astronaut Ron Garan took a picture of that border from the International Space Station. For more information, including the photo, go to http://goo.gl/mY8xG.

Thursday: Earlier this month, astronomers announced that they detected phosphine, a possible biosignature of life, in the upper atmosphere of Venus. Although the surface of Venus is inhospitable, astronomers have long speculated that the upper atmosphere could harbor life. Not Cloud City from The Empire Strikes Back but more like cellular life. There are a few Venus missions in the planning stages for next decade, including a private company that could launch as soon as 2023. To get yourself in the mood, go outside at 6:00 a.m. Venus is about two fists above the eastern horizon. To further enhance your excitement, go to https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-news/race-to-venus-how-well-verify-phosphine/. 

Friday: The bright star Vega is about five fists above the western horizon at 11:00 p.m. Its fellow Summer Triangle star Deneb is about two fists above it. Altair, the third star in the triangle, is about four fists above the southwestern 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.