Seattle Astronomical Society

06/02/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1AqqSBPcfq/

A fireball/bolide was detected with infrasound by U. S. Government sensors on 2026-May-30. The event was witnessed visually and imaged by many from the ground near Boston, Massachusetts. The event was detected by atmospheric monitoring satellites such as GOES19. The event generated a powerful sonic boom (“double boom”) heard and felt over a vast area — from Montreal to Delaware. Ground reports described shaking buildings, rattling windows, and even mistaken reports of earthquakes or explosions. The object likely burned up entirely in the atmosphere with possible meteoritic fragments. NASA and other agencies confirmed the event was natural, caused by a meteoroid fragment, and not man-made space debris or a satellite. No property damage, injuries, or public safety threats were reported. Seismic instruments detected no earthquake activity, confirming the tremors were air-coupled vibrations from the meteor’s sonic boom.

https://cneos.jpl.nasa.gov/fireballs/
Center for NEO Studies (CNEOS) Fireballs

05/29/2026

The Summer Triangle is back.
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1CuCTJKJUs/

Venus and Jupiter grab your eyes in the west in late twilight. The Summer Triangle marks the dark in the east. So will the subtler Milky Way once the glary Moon is gone.
Read more: https://buff.ly/naFCIO6

05/26/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1BYKZCZC3a/

For years as a deep sky observer, I dreaded those nights when our satellite world would begin to dominate the night sky in its monthly cycle. Living in the northeast US where clear nights are few and far between, it seemed such a waste of a cloudless sky when the moon began to drown out those wonderful deep sky gems that I so loved to observe!

On one of those nights, I decided to give in and observe the moon. It must have been around first quarter because, for the first time ever, I saw the Rimae Ariadaeus and Hyginus. I knew there were features on the moon other than mare and craters, but I had never seen lunar rilles. I spent that evening trying to tease out as much detail as I could in my 8” Dobsonian. That was when the moon went from being a nuisance to being an object of observation.

I had seen sketches of the moon in various journals and books. Thinking that they were objects of beauty as well as subjects for serious observation, I decided to try my hand. I have no background in art, but that did not stop me from trying various techniques from graphite on white sketch paper to white pastel against black sketch paper. For me, using the latter technique was the most satisfying, and it is the technique that I use now. I discovered that sketching the moon was the best way to appreciate this fascinating little world in all its complexity. And for lunar sketching, one doesn’t need a dim red light!

While I still love deep sky and planetary observing, no other object in the night sky provides such a wealth of detail as our own moon. When sketching, there is always a narrative going on in my head, such as “Oh, there’s a break in the wall of that crater at 6 o’clock,” or “That rille meanders to where that tiny craterlet lies.”

I can’t think of any other way that gets the observer to notice every wonderful detail other than sketching. For me, sketching gave me the impetus and curiosity to find out why lunar features look the way they do and how they formed.

Give the moon the attention it deserves and try sketching its other worldly vistas!

05/23/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1Ayf1RbDPw/

The Veil Nebula (NGC 6992) is an enormous supernova remnant located only 2,100 light-years away in Cygnus. Ron Brooks captured this image from Pennsylvania using a William Optics RedCat 51 WIFD refractor, a ZWO ASI2600MM Pro camera, and narrowband filters back in August. Subscribe to S&T Magazine for more fascinating facts and photos!⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

05/22/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/14cBGdpD7bX/

Venus and Jupiter — the Evening Star and the False Evening Star — draw closer together in the western twilight and point down to Mercury. The waxing Moon shows off its rich telescopic detail.
Read more: https://buff.ly/GEpOAwx

05/21/2026

The Volunteer Park Telescope Group will be out at the Asian Art Museum in Volunteer park tonight (Friday 5/22). This is not an official SAS event but we have many SAS members that attend and enjoy it..

Volunteer Park in front of Asian Art
1400 E Prospect St, Seattle, WA 98112
745PM - 1015PM weather permitting

The International Space Station flies over at 922PM.

Jupiter: At 830 one of Jupiter's moons is already in front of the planet and at 9 another one goes in front and at 10 one goes behind and at 1015 the first one that was in front finishes its transit.

At 10 or so, if dark enough and clear enough can try for M87 which is a famous galaxy because a few years ago a huge international coalition of multiple radio telescopes took a picture of the black hole in the center of the galaxy.

Can also try for M92 or M13.

Schedule
Moon 745 - 1015
Venus 845? - 930
Sunset 845
Jupiter 830? - 1015
International Space Station - 922
Praesepe Open Star Cluster 930 - 1015
M87 Galaxy and or M92 or M13 Globular Cluster 10 - 1015

Might want to bring pants and long sleeves if there are mosquitoes.

05/21/2026

We have some very nice weather this weekend to get out and do some observing.

We have 2 stargazing events scheduled and they are both on Saturday night. There is the Lakewood Playground near Columbia City and Big Sky Park at Tehaleh in Bonney Lake.

If you are going to attend, please RSVP here so we know how many to expect.

Bonney Lake: https://www.seattleastro.org/events-1/bonney-lake-stargazing-2026-05-23-20-30

Lakewood Playground: https://www.seattleastro.org/events-1/lakewood-playground-star-party-2026-05-23-20-30

Here is a view looking south just after sunset.

05/17/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/14VAkBJrmCf/

✨🔭 UM has teamed up with NASA to bring telescopes to libraries across Montana. People across Big Sky Country will now be able to check out the telescopes to enjoy Montana’s amazing night skies.

Nick Wethington leads UM’s Big Sky, Bigger Dreams initiative. It was his dream to bring the joy of astronomy to rural areas of the state.

“Librarians believe that everyone should have free access to knowledge and resources,” he said. “A telescope that you can check out for free just like a book is a perfect crossover!”

Read the full story: bit.ly/UMteleNick

05/14/2026

We have cancelled the new moon event at Piney Woods for May. The forecast was not looking good and the area is expecting 40mph winds.

Hope to see yall out there in June.