The Ellensburg, WA sky for the week of July 11, 2026

Saturday: Stonehenge was created on the island of Great Britain by Neolithic people. “Manhattanhenge” was created on the island of Manhattan by modern day architects and construction workers. Twice a year, at the end of May and mid-July, the setting Sun aligns perfectly with the Manhattan grid pattern. That means observers will see the Sun set at the end of the street. The first Manhattanhenge sunset of July is tonight at 8:20 p.m. Eastern time and then again tomorrow at 8:21 p.m. Eastern time. For more information about Manhattanhenge, go to https://www.amnh.org/research/hayden-planetarium/manhattanhenge.

Sunday: Since 2014, the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) mission has been orbiting Mars gathering information about the Martian upper atmosphere. Studying the atmosphere and climate on other planets is crucial for helping scientists understand the Earth’s climate history and make better predictions about its future. Unfortunately, as of early July, the White House proposed 2025-26 budget cuts funding for this mission. While MAVEN may no longer be able to send valuable information back to Earth, Mars will always be visible to us. Mars is about two fists above the eastern horizon at 4:30 a.m., just above Aldebaran, a star of similar brightness. Saturn is about two fists above due southeast at this time.

Monday: Venus is one fist above the western horizon at 10:00 p.m.

Tuesday: Eleven years ago today, NASA’s New Horizons probe passed by Pluto. If the band Nirvana was still together, they’d probably rewrite one of their hit songs to be called Heart-Shaped Spot, after one of Pluto’s most distinctive features. “She eyes me like a dwarf planet when I am weak. I’ve been imaging your heart-shaped spot for weeks.” Astronomers think this heart-shaped spot is a large plain of nitrogen ice that consists of convective cells 10-30 miles across. Solid nitrogen is warmed in the interior of Pluto, becomes buoyant, and bubbles up to the surface like a lava lamp. You will find great pictures and information about what New Horizons found this past year at http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/. Pluto, itself, is one fist above the southeastern horizon at 11:00 p.m.

Hey, wait, I’ve got a new complaint. People should be more interested in astronomy. The best group to start with is children. If you are stuck at home, wondering what to do, go to the NASA Kids Club website at https://www.nasa.gov/kidsclub/. There are fun and educational activities for younger children. Older children may like my favorite NASA website - about planets outside our Solar System. I suggest first exploring the “Galaxy of Horrors!” at https://exoplanets.nasa.gov/alien-worlds/galaxy-of-horrors/.

Wednesday: GPS helps a lot of people find their way around the Earth, a planet they drive on all the time. Imagine how helpful it would be for the moon, a place that astronauts have not visited for over 50 years. The National Institute of Standards (NIST) has proposed using ultra stable lasers placed on the moon’s permanently shadowed craters. Even a little bit of heat causes the lasers to expand enough to make them too imprecise to accurately measure distances. Read more about this at https://www.space.com/astronomy/moon/lasers-in-moon-craters-could-create-a-lunar-gps-system. The moon is half a fist above the west-northwestern horizon at 9:30 p.m.

Thursday: The Southern Delta Aquarid meteor shower has a long gradual peak for the next few weeks into mid-August. Meteor showers are named after the constellation from which the meteors appear to originate. These meteors appear to come from a point in Aquarius near the star Delta Aquarii, also known as Skat. This point is about two and a half fists above the southeast horizon at 3:00 am early this morning. You can follow this point throughout the night and for the next few weeks, as it will remain a fist above Fomalhaut, the brightest star in that section of the sky. Read about the shower, at https://earthsky.org/?p=159138. As your mother might say, dress warmly and sit in a comfortable chair for maximum enjoyment. Meteors are tiny rocks that hit the Earth and burn up in the atmosphere.

Friday: Say "Cheese". 175 years ago, Vega, in the constellation Lyra the lyre, became the first star ever photographed. The photograph was taken at the Harvard Observatory using the daguerreotype process. Vega is the third brightest nighttime star we can see in Ellensburg, behind Sirius and Arcturus. Vega is nearly straight overhead at midnight.

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.