The Ellensburg, WA sky for the week of October 7, 2023

Saturday: At 10:00 p.m., Saturn is three fists held upright and at arm’s length above the southern horizon. Jupiter is two and a half fists above the eastern horizon.

Sunday: The Draconid meteor shower peaks for the next three nights with tomorrow night being the best. The meteors appear to come from a point in the head of Draco, the dragon constellation. This point is nearly straight overhead at 7:00 p.m. tonight. This point remains near the trapezoid-shaped head of Draco throughout the night. Unlike most meteor showers, this one is best observed in the early evening rather than after midnight. Call this the “early to bed” meteor shower. Draconid meteors are slow moving which means you will have an easy time differentiating true Draconid meteors, from Comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner, from the stray grains of dust that happen to enter the Earth’s atmosphere every day and night. Unfortunately, the moon is nearly full, meaning most of the dimmer meteors will be obscured. For everything you need to know about the Draconid meteor shower, go to https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/everything-you-need-to-know-draconid-meteor-shower/. 

Monday: It is good to plan ahead while you have meteors on your mind so 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 October 20 and 21 but produces meteors from early October until early November. These meteors appear to come from a point in Orion, the hunter. This point is about two fists held upright and at arm’s length above the southeastern horizon at 1:00 a.m.. You can follow this point throughout the night as it will remain near the prominent reddish star Betelgeuse (pronounced Bet'-el-jews). The Orionid meteors are fast - up to 40 miles per second. For more information about the Orionids, go to https://earthsky.org/?p=27937. 

Tuesday: From left to right, the waning crescent moon, the bright star Regulus, and the even brighter planet Venus are in a line in the eastern sky at 6:00 a.m. They are close enough together that you can easily cover them with a fist held at arm’s length.

Wednesday: 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 above due south at 8:00 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. Sort of like when you would sneak cookies into your parent’s shopping cart, hoping they would not notice.

Thursday: The Milky Way makes a faint white trail from due northeast through straight overhead to due southwest at 9:00 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.

Friday: In the 1980s, McGruff the Crime Dog told you to take a bite out of crime. Tomorrow morning, the moon will take a big bite out of the Sun, as viewed from Ellensburg. People viewing from the Oregon coast to the Gulf of Mexico will see the moon take an even bigger bite out of the middle of the Sun, like eating all of the pizza except a thin ring of the crust. Wait….

Now that I’m back from getting a snack, I can use my science words. Tomorrow morning, the moon will pass directly between the Earth and the Sun, causing an annular solar eclipse as viewed from part of the United States. In this case, “annual” doesn’t mean it is a yearly occurrence. Annular refers to the ring shape of the Sun. The Moon will be directly between the Earth and the Sun. But it will be relatively far from the Earth meaning it will not appear large enough to fully block the Sun, causing a ring of sunlight to shine around the Sun. This is what you’ll see if you are lucky enough to be along a line from the Oregon coast to the Gulf of Mexico. From the point of view of the rest of the United States, the Moon and Sun won’t be perfectly lined up and observers will see a partial solar eclipse. The Moon will appear about 85% blocked at the peak of the eclipse in Ellensburg.

You should NOT look at an annular or partial solar eclipse without proper eye protection. The Ellensburg Public Library on 3rd Avenue and Ruby Street is giving away free safe solar eclipse glasses. These glasses block about 99.9999% of the Sun’s light. When properly wearing these eclipse glasses, you may look directly at the Sun. In Ellensburg, the eclipse starts at about 8:08 a.m., peaks at 9:17 a.m., and ends at 10:40 a.m. Weather permitting, I will bring a solar telescope to the Ellensburg Farmers Market as a guest of The Friends of the Ellensburg Public Library for the duration of the eclipse on October 14. Visit their table. A public library should be one of your best friends. For more information about the eclipse, go to https://science.nasa.gov/eclipses/future-eclipses/eclipse-2023/.

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.