The Ellensburg, WA sky for the week of October 30, 2021

Saturday: Have you ever sat around waiting for a long distance call from another state? Another country? How about another star system? In 2019, astronomers thought they heard a radio signal from a planet orbiting Proxima Centauri, our Sun’s nearest neighbor at about 4.2 light years away. This signal showed many signs of being extraterrestrial in origin, including coming from a specific location in the sky, having a pure tone, and changing in frequency similar to something moving exactly towards or exactly away from the Earth. However, a more recent analysis showed that the signal was more like a crank call. Read more about the discovery and undiscovery at https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-news/the-true-nature-of-the-candidate-et-signal-from-proxima-centauri/. Proxima Centauri is part of the three star Alpha Centauri system, the third brightest star in the sky. You need to go down to the southern tip of Texas or Florida to see Alpha Centauri.

Sunday: Halloween. The pumpkins. The candy. The children going door-to-door dressed up as their favorite Saturnian astronomers: Carolyn Porco and Christiaan Huygens. At least they should because Halloween is, in part, an astronomical holiday. Halloween is a “cross-quarter date”, a day approximately midway between an equinox and a solstice. Historically, the Celts of the British Isles used cross-quarter dates as the beginnings of seasons. For the Celts, winter began with Halloween. So when all those little Saturn fans come to your door tonight night, honor the Celts and give them a wintry treat. If they ask you for a trick, point out Jupiter and Saturn. Jupiter is nearly three fists held upright and at arm’s length above due south at 8:00 p.m. Saturn is about one and a half fists to the lower right of Jupiter.

Monday: Happy Celtic New Year! Many historians think that November 1, known for the festival of Samhain, was the ancient Celtic New Year’s Day. Samhain, Old Irish for “summer’s end”, was a harvest festival that may have contributed to some of the customs of our current “holiday” of Halloween.

Tuesday: Venus is nearly a fist above the south-southwestern horizon at 6:30 p.m.

Wednesday: The waning crescent moon, the planet Mercury, and the bright star Spica make a small triangle in the east-southeastern sky, a half a fist above the horizon at 7:00 a.m. Just a few minutes later, Mars will rise right below the triangle.

Thursday: Uranus will be in opposition tonight. That doesn’t mean that Uranus always says no. Opposition means that Uranus is on the opposite side of the Earth as the Sun. When an object is in opposition, it is at its highest point in the sky during the darkest time of the day. Thus, opposition is typically the best time to observe an object. Uranus is about five fists above the southeast horizon at 11 p.m. Unless you have an exceptionally dark sky, you’ll need binoculars to see it. First find the moderately bright reddish star Menfar, which is exactly four fists above due southeast. Once Menfar is in your field of view, move your binoculars up about one or two fields of view until you see four points of light of similar brightness that make a tall diamond. The top point of light is Uranus. For more about Uranus and other interesting Solar System phenomena, go to https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-blogs/explore-night-bob-king/uranus-queues-up-for-opposition/ 

Friday: You’ve heard of moons. You may have heard of dwarf planets. Did you know that they can share similar features? The five largest moons of Uranus have the same heat signatures as the largest dwarf planets such as Pluto and Eris. That means they are relatively dense and don’t immediately radiate away all of their daytime-absorbed heat at night. Read more about Uranian moons at https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-news/uranian-moons-are-like-dwarf-planets/.
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.

The Ellensburg, WA sky for the week of October 16, 2021

Today: The bright star Antares is about a finger width below the much brighter Venus at 7:00 p.m. Both points of light are a half a fist held upright and at arm’s length above the southwestern horizon.

Sunday: Jupiter is nearly three fists above due south at 9:00 p.m. Saturn is a fist and a half to the lower right of Jupiter.

Monday: Rho Cassiopeiae is the most distant star that can be seen with the naked eye by most people. It is about 8,200 light years away. That means that the light that reaches your eyes from that star left over 8,000 years ago, before the beginning of time according to the Byzantine calendar. Rho Cassiopeiae is six fists above the northeastern horizon at 8:00 p.m., just above the zigzag line that marks the constellation Cassiopeia.

Tuesday: The October full moon is called the Full Hunter's Moon. The traditional Northern Hemisphere harvest time has ended so this is the month that many groups of people turned to hunting to build up their food supplies before winter. Also, since the Moon is full, it lights the sky the entire night, extending the time for night time activities.

Wednesday: The Orionid meteor shower consists of the Earth colliding with pieces of the remains of Halley's Comet's tail. This shower peaks after midnight for the next two nights. This is not a meteor shower that typically results in a meteor storm. There will be about 15-20 meteors per hour, many more meteors than are visible on a typical night but not the storm that some showers bring. The Moon is just past full, meaning it will be above the horizon during the peak time. The best time to observe will be near dawn. Meteor showers are named after the constellation from which the meteors appear to originate. These meteors appear to come from a point in Orion, the hunter. This point is about one fist above due east at midnight. You can follow this point throughout the night as it will remain one fist above the prominent reddish star Betelgeuse (pronounced Bet'-el-jews). The Orionid meteors are fast - up to 40 miles per second. If you fall asleep tonight, you can catch the tail end of the shower every night until early November. For more information, go to https://earthsky.org/?p=27937. 

Thursday: Mercury is a half a fist above the eastern horizon at 6:30 p.m.

Friday: Along with the not-so-subtle drug reference in their name, The Doobie Brothers could have made an astronomy reference in their song lyrics if they would have written: “Old Earth water, keep on rollin’, Mississippi moon won’t you keep on shining on me.” Astronomers now think that some of the water on Earth may be older than the Solar System. The chemical signature of the water indicates it came from a very cold source, just a few degrees above absolute zero. The early Solar System was much warmer than this meaning the water came from a source outside the Solar System. For more information about the old Earth water, go to http://goo.gl/QsEu5P.

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.

The Ellensburg, WA sky for the week of October 2, 2021

 

Saturday:  The CWU campus is mostly open. However, for fall quarter, the First Saturday Planetarium Shows will be online. The Physics Department is hosting the First Saturday VIRTUAL planetarium show today from noon to 1:00 p.m. CWU professor Bruce Palmquist will give a show called “What’s up in the fall sky,” featuring stars, constellations, planets, and other interesting objects visible in the autumn sky. There will be a virtual planetarium show on the first Saturday of every month for the rest of the school year. Stay at home, practice good physical distancing, and visit http://tiny.cc/oyrjuz to register for the show and to attend online using Zoom.

Sunday: Since Halloween is later this month; the stores are filled with bags of candy clusters. Use this reminder to take time to look at a star cluster. The Hyades cluster is an open star cluster that represents the V-shaped face of Taurus the bull. It is one of the biggest and nearest star clusters with about 200 stars 150 light years away. The Hyades cluster was the first cluster to be the subject of detailed motion studies. These studies allowed astronomers to pinpoint the distance to the Hyades and provide important information about the scale of the universe. Aldebaran, nearly two and a half fists held upright and at arm’s length above the eastern horizon at midnight, is a foreground star and not a part of the Hyades cluster.

Monday: Jupiter is nearly three fists above the south-southeast horizon at 9:00 p.m. Saturn is one and a half fists to the lower right of Jupiter.

Tuesday:  Uranus is a little more than three fists above the eastern horizon and two fists below the bright, orange-ish star Hamal. Tonight it is to the left of a star of similar brightness. You’ll know you have found the planet when you revisit that location for the next few nights and see that the point of light has moved up and to the right.

Wednesday: Coffee. First scientists say it’s good for you. Then they say it is bad for you. Recently, the same argument was applied to an exomoon, a moon orbiting a planet outside our Solar System. No, astronomers are not debating whether exomoons are good for you. Of course they are. But there are conflicting reports over whether the initial exomoon observation shared a year ago was real or just a blip in the data. Astronomers studied the light of a star as a Jupiter-sized planet and then its Neptune-sized moon blocked it. This transit method is one of the most popular ways to observe exoplanets… and maybe exomoons. Read more about the debate at https://www.sciencealert.com/the-first-known-exomoon-is-called-into-question-in-follow-up-studies.  

Thursday: 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. Could this be the year for a great show by the Draconids? The thin waxing crescent Moon will not affect viewing. 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/. 

Friday: Venus is one fist to the left of the Moon at 7:00 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.

The Ellensburg, WA sky for the week of September 18, 2021

Saturday: Jupiter and Saturn are about two fists above the south-southeastern horizon at 9:00 p.m. Jupiter is the much brighter of the two. Saturn is about one and a half fists to the right of Jupiter, which is about one and a half fists to the upper right of the Moon. When you are looking at this part of the sky, you are looking in the direction of more than just the two planets. You are also looking in the direction of their moons. Titan, Saturn’s largest moon, is easily visible with a small telescope, about five “ring diameters” to the side of Saturn at this time. Jupiter’s four largest moons are also visible with a small telescope. Calisto and Ganymede are on one side of Jupiter, with Ganymede appearing the farthest away. Europa is visible in the other. If you have very clear skies, you may see Io on the Europa side, right next to Jupiter. Recently, a team of Canadian astronomers analyzed images of Jupiter from 2010 and estimated that Jupiter could have 600 moons at least 800 meters, a half mile, in diameter. They didn’t actually discover these moons. They just formulated a possible model of the Jovian system. For more on this, go to https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-news/jupiter-could-have-600-moons/. 

Sunday: The bright star Capella is two fists above due northeast at 11:00 p.m.

Monday: Shine on, shine on harvest moon, up in the sky. It’s just like a full moon in January, February, June and July. The only difference is that near the Autumnal Equinox (also known as the first day of fall), the full moon rises close to sunset resulting in a full night of light for the harvest. The harvest moon looks more orange than usual when it is near the horizon because of the dust kicked up from the harvest. The dust scatters the white light reflecting off the Moon resulting in slightly more of the red and orange components of the white light reaching your eyes. Although the Moon has a dull yellow color whenever it is near the horizon owing to light scattering off dust and atmospheric particles, the effect is more noticeable for the harvest Moon. For more information about the harvest moon, go to https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/harvest-moon-2/. 

Tuesday: According to the “One world, group hug, love everyone” philosophy, political borders are human-made and can’t be seen from space so why can’t we all just get along. According to real world pragmatic discoveries, some human-made political borders CAN be seen from space. Since 2003, India has illuminated its border with Pakistan to prevent illegal crossings. In 2011, astronaut Ron Garan took a picture of that border from the International Space Station. For more information, including the photo, go to http://goo.gl/mY8xG.

Wednesday: At 12:22 p.m. PDT, the center of the Sun crosses the celestial equator and passes into the southern sky. The celestial equator is an imaginary line that divides the sky into a northern and southern half. When the Sun is in the southern half of the sky, it appears to take a shorter path from rising to setting. It also does not get as high in the sky at noon. This leads to shorter days and longer nights. Since the Sun crosses the celestial equator today, there is an instant when it is equally in the northern and southern sky, called the north and south celestial hemispheres. This so-called “equal night” is given by the Latin word equinox. Thus, today is known as the Autumnal Equinox. However, the day and night are not of equal duration today. The sun rises at 6:50 a.m. and sets at 6:59 p.m. in the northern latitudes of the United States. At these latitudes, day and night are closest to equal duration on Saturday.

Thursday: Last year, astronomers announced that they detected phosphine, a possible biosignature of life, in the upper atmosphere of Venus. Although the surface of Venus is inhospitable, astronomers have long speculated that the upper atmosphere could harbor life. Not Cloud City life from The Empire Strikes Back but maybe cellular life. But more recent studies show that the original scientists just found the signature of sulfur dioxide, a gas common on Venus. This recent phosphate news is an excellent example of science at work. In less than a year, science went from “we may have found a marker for life on Venus” to “it is unclear if we found a marker for life” to “we probably didn’t find a marker for life”. Do an internet search of the words Venus and phosphine and read the articles to follow the story. To get yourself in the mood, go outside at 7:45 p.m. Venus is a half a fist above the southwestern horizon at this time.

Friday: The bright star Vega is about five fists above the western horizon at 11:00 p.m. Its fellow Summer Triangle star Deneb is about two fists above it. Altair, the third star in the triangle, is about four fists above the southwestern horizon.

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.

The Ellensburg, WA sky for the week of September 11, 2021

Saturday: “You know Aries and Cancer and Draco and Libra. Leo and Pisces and Virgo and Hydra. But, do you recall, the pointiest asterism of all? Triangulum, the three sided asterism, had a very pointy shape. And if you didn’t know it, you would say it poked an ape.” Sorry. Some stores have started sending out their Christmas catalogues and that has put me in the mood to modify some Christmas songs. Anyway, Triangulum is a small constellation between the more prominent Andromeda and Aries. Its main feature is a skinny triangle oriented parallel to and nearly four fists held upright and at arm’s length above the eastern horizon at 11:00 p.m.

Sunday: Fomalhaut, the southernmost bright star visible from the northern USA, is one fist above the south-southeastern horizon at 11 p.m. In 2008, Fomalhaut and its surroundings became the first star system with an extrasolar planet to be directly imaged. See the family photo at  https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap081114.html. 

Monday: Venus and Mercury are just above the west-southwestern horizon at 7:30 p.m. Venus is bright and fairly easy to find. Mercury is more of a challenge. But tonight is your best chance for the next few weeks because it is at its greatest distance from the Sun in the sky this orbital cycle.  This orientation is called the greatest eastern elongation. Over the next few weeks, Mercury will move toward the Sun in the sky. By mid-October, it will be visible in the morning sky.

Tuesday: Neptune is in opposition tonight. Opposition means that Neptune is crabby. It means that it is on the opposite side of the Earth as the Sun. When an object is in opposition, it is at its highest point in the sky during the darkest time of the day. Thus, opposition is typically the best time to observe a planet. Neptune is three fists above due southeast at 10:00 p.m. Tonight, it is midway between Jupiter and the Moon. You’ll need binoculars to see it. 

Wednesday: In 1987, the rock group Def Leppard sang “Pour some sugar on me, in the name of love. Pour some sugar on me, come on fire me up”. In 2012, some European astronomers “found some sugar near stars, they were very young. Found some sugar near stars, out where planets formed.” Astronomers observed molecules of glycolaldehyde, a simple form of sugar, in the disk of gas and dust orbiting young binary stars. This is the first time astronomers have found this simple sugar so close to a star indicating that organic molecules can be found in planet-forming regions of stars. For more information, go to http://goo.gl/tfwy1.

Thursday: Saturn is a half a fist above the Moon at 9:00 p.m. They are about two fists above the south-southestern horizon. Jupiter is about a fist and a half east of Saturn. The Moon moves about a half a fist eastward each night. That means tomorrow night the Moon will be about a half a fist below Jupiter at 9:00 p.m.

Friday: Earlier this week, you read about Fomalhaut, the second brightest star with a planet. The brightest star known to have a planet is Pollux, in the constellation Gemini. (First vs. second brightest is meaningless here because they are nearly identical in magnitude, 1.15 vs. 1.16.) Pollux is four and a half fists above due east at 5:30 a.m., right below its “twin” star Castor. Read more about Pollux at https://goo.gl/cL5t9p.

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.

The Ellensburg, WA sky for the week of September 4, 2021

Saturday: Jupiter is one and a half fists held upright and at arm’s length above due southeast at 9:00 p.m. Saturn is about two fists to the right of Jupiter.

Sunday: “Excuse me, do you have the time?”

“No, but the Big Dipper does.”

You can use the orientation of the Big Dipper to tell time with a precision of about 15-30 minutes. First, find the two stars at the far end of the Big Dipper cup, the stars that do not touch the handle. Draw an imaginary line segment starting at the North Star and passing through the two Big Dipper cup stars. Now, draw a big circle around the North Star. Your circle is a 24-hour clock. Number the circle from 0 hours at the top, counterclockwise to 12 hours at the bottom of the circle, and back up to 24 hours at the top. (O hours and 24 hours are the same on this clock because the day is 24 hours long.) The hour number on the big circle closest to where your imaginary line intersects this circle is called your raw time. Due to the location of the Big Dipper compared to the rest of the stars, the time nearest the intersection (the raw time) is correct for March 6. For any other night, subtract two times the number of months the current date is after March 6 from the raw time. For example, let’s say the imaginary line between the North Star and the Dipper stars is pointed to the right. That means the raw time is 18 hours or 6 p.m. If you made this observation tonight, which is six months after March 6, you would subtract two times six or 12 hours from the raw time.  Don’t forget to convert for daylight savings time if needed. For a more complete explanation on how to do the Big Dipper clock math, go to http://goo.gl/02HmA. If you prefer a more visual tool, and a fun project to do with your kids, there is a simple “star clock” template and instructions at https://skyandtelescope.org/observing/make-a-star-clock/. Use this paper star clock whenever your watch is broken. The Big Dipper is in the northwestern sky at 9:00 p.m. tonight.

Monday: Labor Day was the brainchild of labor unions and is dedicated to American workers. The first Labor Day was celebrated in 1882. The Greek mythical hero Hercules probably wished there was a Labor Day to commemorate his work. As punishment for killing his family while he was temporarily insane, he had to perform twelve nearly impossible tasks such as killing monsters or stealing things from deities. Hmmm. Maybe we shouldn’t commemorate his labors. But we can enjoy his constellation. The keystone asterism representing the body of Hercules is six fists held upright and at arm’s length above the western horizon at 10:00 p.m. For more information about the Labors of Hercules, go to http://goo.gl/ozVF5. 

Tuesday: School starts this week so it is time for a little geometry review. A square is a regular quadrilateral. This means it has four equal sides, four equal angles, and wears old fashioned clothing. Go outside at 10:00 p.m. tonight with a notebook in hand to sketch one. The Great Square of Pegasus is balancing on its corner three fists above the eastern horizon. The top corner of the square is two fists above the bottom corner. The other two corners are to the left and right of the line segment connecting the top and bottom corners. 

Wednesday: Venus is one and a half fists to the left of the waxing crescent Moon at 8:00 p.m. They are low in the south-southwestern sky.

Thursday: Geometry review, part 2. Go outside at 10:00 p.m. tonight with a notebook in hand. (Good teaching involves a little repetition.) A triangle is a polygon with three corners and three line segments as sides. A good example is the Summer Triangle made up of the bright stars Vega, Deneb and Altair. Altair is five fists above the southern horizon. Vega, the brightest star in the triangle, is seven fists above the western horizon. Deneb is a little bit east of straight overhead.  

Friday: The asteroid Pallas is at opposition tonight. That doesn’t mean that Pallas says “no” when you say “yes”. Opposition means that Pallas is on the opposite side of the Earth as the Sun. When an object is in opposition, it is at its highest point in the sky during the darkest time of the day. Thus, opposition is typically the best time to observe an asteroid or planet. Pallas is three fists above the southeastern horizon at 10:00 p.m. First find bright Jupiter in the center of your binoculars’ field of view to the somewhat bright reddish star Hydor. Then, with Hydor at the center of your field of view, move your binoculars about one and a half fields of view to the upper left to reach Pallas. It is in the middle of a small parallelogram. As the days go by, Pallas moves to the lower right compared to the parallelogram.

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.

The Ellensburg, WA sky for the week of August 28, 2021

 

Saturday: Jupiter and Saturn line up in the southern sky at 9:30 p.m. Jupiter is one and a fists above due southeast and Saturn is two fists to the right of it. Astronomers discovered volcanoes spewing water vapor on Saturn’s moon Enceledus back in 2005. Just two years ago, scientists published findings of similar activity on Jupiter’s moon Europa. It’s not possible to see Enceladus with a small telescope. But you can see Europa using a small telescope.  If you look at 9:30 p.m., you’ll see all four large moons: three on one side and one on the other. Io is by itself on one side of Jupiter. On the other side of Jupiter, Europa is closest to Jupiter. Brighter Ganymede is right next to Europa and Callisto is farther out. Depending on the size of your telescope, Ganymede and Europa may look like a single point of light. For more information about Europa’s geysers, go to https://earthsky.org/space/europa-water-vapor-geysers-goddard. 

Sunday: Venus is a half a fist above the west-southwestern horizon at 8:30 p.m. The bright star Spica is less than a fist to the left of Venus.

Monday: Had the script been written a little differently for a well-known Robin Williams movie, we might have heard Mr. Williams shout, “Goooood Morning Orion the hunter”. Orion is typically thought of as a winter constellation. But, it makes its first appearance in the early morning summer sky. The lowest corner of Orion’s body, represented by the star Saiph (pronounced “safe”), rises at 2:00 a.m., well before the Sun. By 5:30 a.m., Orion’s belt is three fists above the south-southeastern horizon. 

Tuesday: Need a caffeine pick-me-up? Make it a double. Need an astronomy pick-me-up? Make it a double double. Find Vega, in the constellation Lyra the lyre, nearly straight overhead at 9:00 tonight. Less than half a fist to the east (or left if you are facing south) of the bright bluish star Vega is the “star” Epsilon Lyra. If you look at Epsilon Lyra through binoculars, it looks like two stars. If you look at Epsilon Lyra through a large enough telescope, you will notice that each star in the pair is itself a pair of stars.  Each star in the double is double. Hence, Epsilon Lyra is known as the double double. The stars in each pair orbit a point approximately in the center of each respective pair. The pairs themselves orbit a point between the two pairs.

Wednesday: While you were looking through your underwear drawer for clean socks, some citizen scientists were looking through sky maps obtained by robotic telescopes to find brown dwarfs. The project, called Backyard Worlds: Planet 9, allows anyone with a computer and internet connection to search through thousands of images to find these strange objects that are midway between being classified as large planets and small stars. Some brown dwarfs can have surface temperatures of thousands of degrees Celsius, the recently discovered ones are cooler than the boiling point of water and may even have clouds of water vapor! Read more about the discovery and how you can participate in this project at https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?release=2020-159. 

Thursday: “I’m a little teapot, short and stout. The galactic center, I pour it out.” (I’m a Little Teapot, astronomy version, 2021.) Despite its great size and importance, the center of our Milky Way galaxy and its giant black hole remains hidden to the naked eye behind thick clouds of gas and dust. By plotting the orbits of stars near the middle of the galaxy, astronomers have determined that the black hole’s mass is equal to about 4.5 million Suns. While you can’t see the actual galactic center, you can gaze in the direction of the center by looking just to the right of the teapot asterism in the constellation Sagittarius. This point is about one fist above the south-southwestern horizon at 9:00 p.m.

Friday: The Gemini Twins are right above the waning crescent Moon in the eastern sky at 5:30 a.m. Pollux is a little more than a half a fist above the Moon and Castor is another half fist up.

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.