Three things in particular interest me this August, those being a partial lunar eclipse, an excellent year for the Perseid meteor shower, and the return of Saturn to the evening sky.
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Welcome to the first full month of summer, and the start of the second half of 2026. Warm summer nights make for excellent stargazing. Venus will again be the one bright planet that is easy to see in July.
June is here, with our longest days and shortest nights. At the start of June, sunset occurs at about 8:50 p.m. On the summer solstice, June 21, the sun will set at about 9 p.m. Sunset will remain at about 9 p.m. for the rest of June. Darkness will obviously come late — on June 21 it will not get completely dark until after 11:30 p.m.
Welcome to April! If you were not able to view the March 3 Lunar eclipse, check it out on the Goldendale Observatory website, at www.goldendaleobservatory.com. Look under “special events” and you can watch a video of the entire eclipse, or a two-minute timelapse.
Our third month of the year brings us a total Lunar Eclipse, the vernal equinox, and a nice pairing of the Moon and Jupiter. Hopefully the clouds will part at the right time for viewing some of these events.
Jupiter continues to shine bright in February’s evening skies, and the winter constellations Orion and Taurus are bright on clear nights. But let’s focus on something else this winter month, called circumpolar constellations.
Happy New Year! Welcome to January. Our first month features Jupiter’s closest approach for the year, and plenty of bright stars to view. Nights will be cold and mostly cloudy, but step outside when skies clear for a stunning view, even if it is a short one!
Welcome to December, the last month of the year, the holiday season, and the winter solstice. December does not have a lot of clear skies, but…
Welcome to November! One of our cloudier months, and certainly not one with a lot of clear skies. However, when the clouds do clear, early sunsets mean the ability to view the skies earlier in the evening. Get out when you can!
FREE NEWS: Comet Lemmon visits us about once a millennium, dropping in from far beyond the orbit of Pluto. It hasn’t changed much since it was formed 4.5 billion years ago, so getting a chance to see it is an experience that connects us to the very beginnings of our solar system.
