The Ellensburg, WA sky for the week of March 21, 2026

Saturday: Signs of spring: flower buds, leaves on the trees, beetle larvae, and the Spring Triangle. The bright stars Regulus, Arcturus, and Spica rise as evening starts. By 10:00 p.m., Regulus is five fists held upright and at arm’s length above the south-southeast horizon, Arcturus is two fists above the eastern horizon, and Spica is half a fist above the east-southeast horizon. For more on the Spring Triangle, go to https://www.livescience.com/space/vernal-equinox-how-to-see-spring-begin-just-by-looking-at-the-stars.

Sunday: The open star cluster called The Pleiades is less than a half a fist to the upper left of the moon at 9:00 p.m. They are about three fists above the western horizon at this time.

Monday: Venus is a little less than a fist above due west at 8:00 p.m.

Tuesday: The brightest star in the head of Draco the dragon is called Eltanin, based on the Arabic At-Tinnin or “great serpent”. It is currently about 150 light years away. Eltanin is moving towards our Solar System. In 1.5 million years, it will be only 28 light years away and the brightest star in the night sky, nearly as bright as Sirius is currently. Eltanin is three fists above due northeast at midnight.

Wednesday: Jupiter is about a half a fist to the left of the moon throughout the night. They are six fists above the southwestern horizon at 9:00 p.m.

Thursday: The Milky Way is pretty easy to spot in the early spring sky. Just look up. Everything you see in the sky, including that bird that just startled you, is in the Milky Way. But even the path of densely packed stars in the plane of our galaxy that looks like a river of milk is easy to find. Face due west at 9:00 p.m. in a fairly open area and look to your left. The fuzzy Milky Way path starts due south, moves upward past the bright star Sirius, under the bright planet Jupiter, towards the bright star Capella, through W-shaped Cassiopeia and down to due north on your right where the bright star Deneb sits just above the horizon.

Friday: The open star cluster called The Beehive Cluster is right below the moon throughout the night. They are six fists above due south at 9:30 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. All times are Pacific Time unless noted.