Eastern Washington

Standing out in the fields of Eastern Washington on a clear and chilly night in early March, there were views like this in every direction! Thank you to Bryan and the other friends of the Spokane Astronomical Society for sharing views from your telescopes of the planets, stars, nebulas and other celestial wonders visible overhead!

Looking to the northwest from our viewing spot, you could start to see the Milky Way appear above the faint glow along the horizon. Each of these night-time shots was taken with a 3-second exposure on my iPhone 15.

This view of the eastern sky featured a sprinkling of stars above the silhouettes of a stand of pine trees.

As the sky filled with stars, a familiar constellation appeared in the south – Orion the hunter with his belt of three stars. I believe the bright star in the lower center is Sirius, and you can see Mars as the bright point of light near the top on the left side of this image.

I spent a clear, cold evening in early March with a friend and his big telescope out in the scablands of Eastern Washington near Sprague. Just after sunset, you could see the crescent moon with Venus above and to the right (which was also in its crescent phase, although you needed his telescope to see…