Oracle Night Sky Charm
Star Trails over the Kannally Ranch House at Oracle State Park. Photo by Mike Weasner.
Welcome to the 2nd edition of “Oracle Night Sky Charm”. In these monthly articles, written especially for the Friends of Oracle State Park, you will discover some of what makes Oracle’s Night Sky so enjoyable to residents and visitors, and why it is important to protect our Night Sky Heritage.
The Planets
As mentioned in the January 2025 “Oracle Night Sky Charm”, the planets Venus, Jupiter, and Mars continue to be nicely visible in the early evening sky. Venus is the bright object high in the western sky after sunset. But it is rapidly getting lower in the sky as it moves along in its orbit around the Sun and gets closer to the Earth. Venus shows phases just like the Moon. It is now a crescent phase, growing thinner every night. If you have a good pair of binoculars, start looking at Venus. You may be able to see the crescent phase. Bright Jupiter is still high overhead and bright Mars is still in the eastern sky after sunset. Saturn is becoming more difficult to see as it gets lower in the western sky after sunset. But the planet Mercury, the closest planet to our Sun, is now making an appearance in the western sky. The chart below shows Venus, Mercury, the new Moon, and Saturn on 28 February at 7 PM. If you have never seen Mercury, start looking for it on 22 February. You will need a clear view of the western horizon.
Western sky 28 February.
The Zodiacal Light
As mentioned last month, a real challenge to see is the “Zodiacal Light” in the western sky beginning about an hour after sunset. You will need a dark sky with a clear western horizon. Fortunately, there are locations in Oracle and at Oracle State Park where you can see the Zodiacal Light. Using Venus and Jupiter as your guide (they ride the sky on the “Zodiac”), look for a very faint thin triangular wedge with the widest portion along the horizon and tapering down to a point high in the sky. Don’t be confused by Light Pollution from cities which will appear as skyglow near the horizon. The darker your sky the easier it will be to see this light from our Sun reflected by dust left over from the formation of our Solar System billions of years ago and perhaps even dust that has escaped from the surface of the planet Mars. March and April are prime Zodiacal Light viewing opportunities.
Total Lunar Eclipse
We will be treated to a Total Lunar Eclipse on the night of 13-14 March. You will start seeing the eclipse around 10 PM on the 13th as the Penumbral Phase ends and the Partial Phase begins (10:09 PM). The Total Eclipse begins at 11:26 PM, with the maximum eclipse at 11:59 PM. The Total Eclipse ends at 12:32 AM on the 14th. The Partial Phase ends at 1:48 AM on the 14th. During the Total Phase look at all the stars you can see in the sky that are no longer hidden by the bright Full Moon (and hopefully are not hidden by your neighbor’s lights). You can enjoy the Lunar Eclipse with just your eyes, but looking at the eclipsed Moon using binoculars will add to the enjoyment of experiencing a Total Lunar Eclipse. How red and dark the Moon will appear will depend on conditions in the Earth’s atmosphere at the time. Windblown dust, smoke, and volcanic ash all influence the Moon’s appearance during an eclipse.
Total Lunar Eclipse November 2022 from Oracle.
Hope to see you at the next Star Party at Oracle State Park. If you have never been to one of the Park’s star parties, to see what you have missed experiencing you can read previous Oracle State Park Star Party reports on the Oracle Dark Skies Committee web site under the Past Events link. You can see what star parties at the Park are coming up on the Future Events page.
If there is something you would like discussed in future FOSP “Oracle Night Sky Charm” postings, email Mike Weasner at mweasner@mac.com. Mike has been a volunteer at Oracle State Park since 2014 and is a past Vice President and past President of the Friends of Oracle State Park.