A new city, a new view, and an exciting celestial event on the horizon.
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Saturn returns in October! Read my telescope guide to choose the best telescope to view the ringed planet for yourself.
A funny thing about ‘S’
Every major city that I’ve hosted sidewalk astronomy this year has started with the letter S:
- St. Petersburg
- Sedona
- San Diego
- Spokane
I’ve hosted in a few small towns between these, and several private events in others, but I found the S-theme funny for the larger cities.
Spokane may very well be the prettiest backdrop I’ve ever hosted sidewalk astronomy in. While the red rocks and mountains of Sedona certainly have their allure and charm, I’m a sucker for the PNW, and the colors, the rocks, the river, and the horizon in Spokane have come together every night to paint a masterpiece right in front of my telescope.
St. Pete has its young-and-hoppin’ city vibe.
Sedona has its quiet after-hours tourism vibe.
San Diego has its family-friendly bustle vibe.
But Spokane is different. Each of the other three, nature is either nonexistent, or distantly separated from the town. In Spokane, the river and rocks have been preserved as part of the experience of Riverfront Park. I’ve truly fallen in love with this backdrop, and with Spokane in my exploration of it and the surrounding areas of Spokane Valley and even Coeur d’Alene (though I find I’m drawn more to Spokane than to CDA).
Spokane also has the highest passerby-to-visitor ratio of any city I’ve visited recently. You may notice me clicking away as I’m talking to people–I’m counting visitors and passerby (sometimes aided with a timelapse video in the background for accuracy, but I’ve yet to need it in Spokane).
A whopping 85% of people walking by stop at the telescope, compared to 24% in St. Pete, 16% in Sedona, and 20% in San Diego. It’s impressive, honestly.
Astronomy in the north is…different
Though I’ve traveled throughout nearly the entire country in my 8.5 years of sidewalk experiences, I’ve kept astronomy to the southern regions. I’m used to seeing the Moon and planets slide down in the sky; up here in Spokane, I’ve had to adjust my brain to understand that everything slides sideways at a far shallower angle than down south.
Pro: the Moon has stayed out longer in these early phases than down south.
Con: the Moon is only 14 degrees high and therefore I had to find a spot far away from trees and buildings that would cover it up that low in the sky.
It’s a fascinating sensation, to travel and see the stars, Moon, Sun, and planets traveling at different altitudes and angles everywhere you go. I remember the first time I had this (then-unfamiliar) experience: I had just moved to Georgia from Pennsylvania. I was out stargazing, but couldn’t find the Big Dipper. Then it dawned on me: by moving south, the northern constellations would be lower in the sky.
I dropped my gaze: and voila! The Big Dipper was under where I was looking. I’d grown up with it being higher in the sky, so moving south confused my familiarity, forcing me to readjust.
These days I’m acutely aware of my latitude as I travel, so finding constellations and stars is no problem–but fascinating to see. And this shallow-angle Moon stuff blows my mind. I feel like one of those visitors in St. Pete who come from Florida and ask, “Why is the Moon pointing straight down? Up north it’s sideways.” I of course know and can explain the reason because of how basic geometry works, but now I finally get to live the reason.
So cool.
The Lunar Eclipse – August 27th
Spokane, you get a cosmic treat.
One week from today, on August 27th, the Full Moon will turn black and red as it rises to the east, peaking with a 96% lunar eclipse at 9:07pm. It’s going to look fantastic, so make sure to visit me on the Howard Street Bridge at Riverfront Park. Arrive by 8pm for some educational tidbits prior to the main event.
We’ll take photos through the telescope you can take home with you, and I encourage you to bring binoculars (I’ll have some as well). You do NOT need eclipse glasses; lunar eclipses are perfectly safe, just regular Moongazing.
In the telescope and photos we take, this is similar to what we can expect to see that night:
All of North and South America will see this lunar eclipse! Wherever you are, find the Moon the night of August 27th and watch Earth’s shadow cover it up, then darken it to a faint red color, and back to white again over a 3-hour period.
Times:
- EDT: 10:30pm start, 12:07am Aug 28th peak, 1:52am finish
- CDT: 9:30pm start, 11:07pm peak, 12:52am Aug 28th finish
- MDT: 8:30pm start, 10:07pm peak, 11:52pm finish
- PDT/Arizona: 7:30pm start, 9:07pm peak, 10:52pm finish
- most PDT locations will need to wait for the Moon to rise; it will already be in shadow by the time you see it
Solar and Lunar eclipses always come in pairs 14-16 days apart. The August 12th eclipse happened first, so this lunar eclipse is the follow up. If a lunar eclipse happens first, a solar eclipse will follow two weeks later.
Come find me every night at Riverfront Park in Spokane along the Howard Street Bridge now through August 31st, starting 6:30pm each night unless clouds interfere.
- Friday 8/21 looks cloudy and I’m NOT planning to be there
- Saturday 8/22 might be as well, so check my Instagram story Saturday afternoon to know if I’m going to be out.
This world is beautiful.
Alex
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