Saturday: Some people in town today for the Yakima River Canyon Marathon may have been looking for a little running inspiration. While nothing can take the place of a 20 mile run for marathon preparation (I know), certain objects in the night sky are inspiring. In the Bible, Job specifically mentions the star Arcturus, or the bear keeper, to his friend as a sign of God's majesty. He describes God as that "Which maketh Arcturus, Orion, and Pleiades, and the chambers (constellations) of the south" (Job 9:9, King James Version). Whatever your religious beliefs, it is clear that Job was impressed with this very bright star. See the star that inspired Job about two and a half fists held upright and at arm’s length above the eastern horizon at 10:00 p.m.
Sunday: Global Astronomy Month (GAM) starts this week. Go to https://my.astronomerswithoutborders.org/programs/global-astronomy-month
for more information about events. If you want to take a chance on a spur of
the moment event, visit their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/astronomerswithoutborders/
Monday: Last week you looked at something fuzzy, the Milky
Way. So reward yourself tonight by looking at something sharp and detailed. The
OSIRIS-REx mission sent back the highest resolution global map of any Solar
System object, the asteroid Bennu. Using pictures taken from just three to five
kilometers above the surface, the map has a resolution of five centimeters per
pixel, the most detailed map of any object other than Earth. Go to https://www.asteroidmission.org/bennu_global_mosaic/
to download the map.
Tuesday: At 8:30 p.m., there are three bright planets in the
western sky. Mercury is a half a fist above the western horizon, very bright
Venus is two and a half fists above the western horizon (to the upper left of
Mercury), Mars is six fists above the southwestern horizon.
Wednesday: The stars in the Hyades Cluster are all young, as
stars are judged, formed in the same cloud of gas and dust a few hundred
million years ago. But just as children move away from home, the stars of the
Hyades Cluster are slowly drifting apart. Millennia from now, future sky
watchers will see these stars as random points of light in the sky and not as a
family. I hope they at least call home every so often. For more information, go
to https://www.skyandtelescope.com/astronomy-news/end-hyades-star-cluster/.
The Hyades Cluster is two fists above due west at 9:30 p.m.
Thursday: You probably didn’t know this but several British
New Wave bands were really into astronomy. Take the band “Dead or Alive”
(please). The original lyrics to their song “You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)
were actually: “You spin me right round, baby, right round, like the Whirlpool
Galaxy, right round, round, round.” (Well, that’s what I thought they were.)
The Whirlpool Galaxy was the first galaxy observed to have a spiral shape.
Since then, astronomers have discovered many galaxies, including our own Milky
Way Galaxy, have a spiral shape. Go to https://esahubble.org/images/heic0506a/
for more information about the Whirlpool Galaxy. Go to your small telescope to
find the Whirlpool Galaxy in the night sky. It is in the constellation Canes
Venatici, the hunting dogs. At 10:00 p.m., find Alkaid, the end star of the Big
Dipper handle, five and a half fists above the east-northeastern horizon. The
Whirlpool Galaxy is two fingers to the upper right of Alkaid.
Friday: Saturn is a half a fist above the east-southeastern
horizon at 8:00 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.
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