What's up in the Ellensburg, Washington Sky

Saturday: The Globe at Night May campaign starts today. Globe at night is a citizen science project to quantify the impact of light pollution on our view of the night sky. Go to https://globeatni...

http://theellensburgsky.blogspot.com/2024/04/the-ellensburg-wa-sky-for-week-of-april_24.html

Saturday: In the 1979 hit song, The Devil Went Down to Georgia. This week, the Devil Comet is going down to the west-northwestern horizon just after sunset. Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks, which gained th...

http://theellensburgsky.blogspot.com/2024/04/the-ellensburg-wa-sky-for-week-of-april_17.html

Saturday: International Dark Sky Week was earlier this month.  But that doesn’t mean that we can ignore our obligation to minimize stray light for the other 51 weeks. Lights that are aimed upw...

http://theellensburgsky.blogspot.com/2024/04/the-ellensburg-wa-sky-for-week-of-april_11.html

Saturday: Jupiter is one and a half fists above the western horizon at 8:30 p.m. Sunday: Astronomers are often fascinated with large objects. Planets that could hold 1000 Earths (Jupiter). Star...

http://theellensburgsky.blogspot.com/2024/04/the-ellensburg-wa-sky-for-week-of-april.html

Saturday: Many artists have sung the song “Blue Moon”. But few have sung the song “Blue Planet”. It goes, in part “Blue Planet, you saw me standing with 28 others. Rolling around like a...

http://theellensburgsky.blogspot.com/2024/03/the-ellensburg-wa-sky-for-week-of-march_27.html

Saturday: Did you get binoculars for the holidays? Like Celebrate Scientists Day or Science Education Day (both March 14)  If so, start using them on some of the easy to find binocular targets f...

http://theellensburgsky.blogspot.com/2024/03/the-ellensburg-wa-sky-for-week-of-march_21.html

 Saturday: Ask someone which day in March has the same duration day and night. Go ahead, ask someone. Why are you still reading this? I can wait. If that person said the first day of spring, the...

http://theellensburgsky.blogspot.com/2024/03/the-ellensburg-wa-sky-for-week-of-march_0399580630.html

Saturday:  Don't forget to set your clocks ahead one hour tonight for the annual ritual called daylight savings. Daylight savings originated in the United States during World War I to save energ...

http://theellensburgsky.blogspot.com/2024/03/the-ellensburg-wa-sky-for-week-of-march_6.html

Saturday: Tonight is a great night to look for the Big Dipper. Tomorrow will be a great night to look for the Big Dipper. In fact, every night for many centuries will be great nights to look for ...

http://theellensburgsky.blogspot.com/2024/03/the-ellensburg-wa-sky-for-week-of-march.html

Saturday: February’s full moon is known as the Snow Moon. That name may have been appropriate when I was younger and living in Minnesota. But with human influenced climate change, many northern...

http://theellensburgsky.blogspot.com/2024/02/the-ellensburg-wa-sky-for-week-of_21.html

Saturday: On February 18, 1930, Clyde Tombaugh discovered Pluto, at that time classified as the ninth planet. However, as astronomers started discovering a lot of similar objects in that part of ...

http://theellensburgsky.blogspot.com/2024/02/the-ellensburg-wa-sky-for-week-of_15.html

Saturday: Saturn is about one finger width to the upper right of the moon at 6:00 p.m. They are about a half a fist held upright and at arm’s length above the west-southwestern horizon. Sunda...

http://theellensburgsky.blogspot.com/2024/02/the-ellensburg-wa-sky-for-week-of_8.html

Saturday: Let’s review three important sets of three cats. There’s Josie, Valerie, and Melody of Josie and the Pussycats. Felix, Tom, and Sylvester from old time cartoons. And, if you want to...

http://theellensburgsky.blogspot.com/2024/02/the-ellensburg-wa-sky-for-week-of.html

Saturday: Regulus, the brightest star in the constellation Leo the lion, is one fist to the upper right of the moon at 9:00 p.m. Sunday: Are you interested in participating in astronomy researc...

http://theellensburgsky.blogspot.com/2024/01/the-ellensburg-wa-sky-for-week-of_25.html

Saturday: Winter is the best season for finding bright stars. And if you only want to set aside a few minutes, 10:00 p.m. tonight just might be the best time because the winter hexagon is due sou...

http://theellensburgsky.blogspot.com/2024/01/the-ellensburg-wa-sky-for-week-of_17.html

Saturday: Saturn is about a half a fist above the Moon, low in the southwestern sky at 6:00 p.m. Sunday: Most constellations don’t look like the object their name refers to. That’s because ...

http://theellensburgsky.blogspot.com/2024/01/the-ellensburg-wa-sky-for-week-of_11.html

Saturday: Today: How do you study the life cycle of a dog? Easy. Get a dog from the animal shelter, care for it for 15 years and study it. How do you study the life cycle of a star? Easy. Pick a ...

http://theellensburgsky.blogspot.com/2024/01/the-ellensburg-wa-sky-for-week-of.html

Saturday: At 6:00 p.m., Saturn is about two and a half fists held upright and at arm’s length above the southwestern horizon and Jupiter is five fists above the southeastern horizon. Sunday: ...

http://theellensburgsky.blogspot.com/2023/12/the-ellensburg-wa-sky-for-week-of_29.html

Saturday: Red is a popular Christmas color. It is also a popular star color. And R Leporis, also known as Hind’s Crimson Star, is one of the reddest stars in the sky. It is a star near the end ...

http://theellensburgsky.blogspot.com/2023/12/the-ellensburg-wa-sky-for-week-of_21.html

Saturday: With the Sun as low as it gets in the Northern Hemisphere winter sky this week, you may wish it was a little more prominent. On September 27, NASA’s Parker Solar Probe had its closest...

http://theellensburgsky.blogspot.com/2023/12/the-ellensburg-wa-sky-for-week-of_14.html

Saturday: Imagine Opie and Andy Taylor walking down the dirt path at night to that fishing hole in the sky. They’d probably be looking to catch Pisces, the two fish already conveniently tied to...

http://theellensburgsky.blogspot.com/2023/12/the-ellensburg-wa-sky-for-week-of.html

Saturday: Is your favorite astronomy-loving relative asking for a telescope this Christmas? Before reaching for your credit card, read this guide to choosing your first telescope, available at ht...

http://theellensburgsky.blogspot.com/2023/11/the-ellensburg-wa-sky-for-week-of_30.html

Saturday: We are just a few days away from the earliest sunsets of the year in Ellensburg. (No, the earliest sunsets are not on the first day of winter.) So this is a good time to learn how to qu...

http://theellensburgsky.blogspot.com/2023/11/the-ellensburg-wa-sky-for-week-of_16.html

Saturday: The Leonid meteor shower peaks this morning. But there will be increased activity for the next few days. These meteors appear to come from a point in the constellation Leo the lion. Thi...

http://theellensburgsky.blogspot.com/2023/11/the-ellensburg-wa-sky-for-week-of.html

Saturday: Before you fall back on your bed tonight, set your clock back one hour to the real time. Daylight savings ends early Sunday morning at 2:00 a.m. This means one more hour of sky watching...

http://theellensburgsky.blogspot.com/2023/10/the-ellensburg-wa-sky-for-week-of_31.html