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 due east at 10:00 p.m. Also, Orion is two fists above the west-southwestern horizon and Pleiades is two fists above the western horizon.
Sunday: Venus is one fist above the west-northwestern horizon at 8:15 p.m. Jupiter is six and a half fists above the southern horizon at this time.
Monday: Thursday: 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: Have you ever 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 five and a half fists above the eastern horizon at 6:00 a.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.
Wednesday: The Global Astronomy Month (GAM) of April starts today. 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/
Thursday: Mercury is a half a fist above the east-southeastern horizon at 6:15 a.m.
Friday: I am guessing that some of you don’t like the line of reasoning from Tuesday: 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. For up-to-date information about the night sky, go to https://nightsky.jpl.nasa.gov/planner.cfm. All times are Pacific Time unless noted.
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