12:44 AM: Thanks to the commenters who’ve posted images from their sightings!

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The sunset was the big draw, but another star got some attention at Alice Enevoldsen‘s one-day-delayed summer-solstice sunset watch Friday night, attended by more than 40 people at Solstice Park.

(Our report is delayed too, after breaking news overnight and early today.) Alice of course explained the solar system positioning that the solstices and equinoxes represent, with the help of young assistants, this time J.J. and Decker:

And Alice – an educator and volunteer NASA Solar System Ambassador who has led these events for 15+ years – answered questions, including whether any celestial phenomena were imminent. Besides the annual summer meteor showers, here’s something to watch for: A nova from the constellation Corona Borealis. Yes, that’s correct, Corona Borealis, not to be confused with the aurora borealis.

As explained in this Earth.com report, one of its stars is about to have an explosion known as a nova, something it does every 80 years or so, though exactly how soon, nobody knows. Alice advises loading a planetarium app on your phone to help you know where to look once it happens – which may be before her next sunset watch, on fall-equinox evening, 6:30 pm Sunday, September 22.

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If you were planning on celebrating the change of seasons by attending NASA Solar System Ambassador Alice Enevoldsen‘s quarterly sunset watch at Solstice Park – note that she’s having it one day later this time. Due to a conflict, Alice will be gathering sunset-watchers at 8:30 pm next Friday (June 21) rather than on the actual solstice date Thursday. The setting sun will still be visible in line with the park’s marker – assuming the forecast holds. If you haven’t been before, this is in upper Solstice Park, upslope from the tennis courts at 7400 Fauntleroy Way SW. (Actual sunset time is just after 9 pm, but the sun will drop behind the Olympics about 10 minutes before that. And the actual solstice moment, for the record, will be 1:50 pm Thursday.)

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That should be the newest image from the NOAA site, looking ahead about half an hour; also note that UTC is seven hours later than our time. Alice’s page also has viewing advice; let us know what you see – we’ll be watching too, and updating.

10:14 PM: Haven’t heard/seen any WS reports yet, but the National Weather Service office up on Sand Point says they’ve got a bit of color in the sky.

10:52 PM: In comments, Liz reports seeing it. And via Twitter/X, so does Alicia.

10:58 PM: Texter says this is what they’re seeing from the West Seattle Golf Course:

11:03 PM: Another texted photo, looking toward downtown from Blair DeWeese:

11:14 PM: Now getting lots of reports. People are seeing it from Hamilton Viewpoint (Blair’s pic above) and Myrtle Reservoir parks, among other places. Here’s one just texted from Myrtle:

11:29 PM: From Hoa Vong at Delridge/Brandon:

11:52 PM: Many more photos in comments below (thank you!).

EARLY AM NOTE: We’ve received more pics in email too and will add some here later this morning. And we’ll be on watch to see if the aurora returns tonight, given that the solar storm apparently isn’t over yet.

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Kevin wrote: “This is comet 12P/Pons-Brooks as viewed with a small digital telescope from our deck here in West Seattle. This beauty can be seen with binoculars after sunset as it heads out of the inner solar system not to return for 71 years. An app like ‘Night Sky’ or various websites will show you where to look for this green gem currently in our night skies.” In fact, Space.com reports that Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks is reaching peak brightness this weekend.

ADDED THURSDAY: From Kevin – “For anyone interested I’ll be down at Emma Schmitz Overlook by 8:30 pm tonight to try to photograph the comet again. Bring your binoculars and let’s see what we can see!” Look for him across from Me-Kwa-Mooks.

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11:15 AM: With unbroken clouds overhead, expert skywatcher/educator Alice Enevoldsen is hosting her solar-eclipse-viewing event inside Olympic Hall at the south end of the South Seattle College (6000 16th SW; WSB sponsor) campus, room 105. She’s tuning in feeds from other areas of the nation/hemisphere (so far, Texas, Missouri, Mexico, Canada) that are seeing a total eclipse (even if we weren’t socked in here, we’d be seeing only 20 percent coverage).

11:27 AM: Alice has sent out scouts to check outside every few minutes. Still “totally socked in.” (If that changes, though, she promises, “we’re going outside.”) The feeds onscreen have varied from totality in Mexico to “just getting started” in Maine (where totality is a little over an hour away).

(Maine feed shown onscreen – this is close to what it peaked at here, above the clouds)

11:45 AM: If you could see through the clouds here, we’d already be more than 15 minutes past the partial-eclipse peak here, so this is definitely remaining an indoor viewing event. Alice, who is an instructor here at SSC, has explained that one of the feeds is from a North Seattle College instructor, Tracy Furutani, who traveled to Missouri to see it and provide a livestream.

12:04 PM: The Missouri location dimmed noticeably on the live feed and is now coming out of totality. (One total-eclipse image also revealed a couple of planets, too, which Alice jumped up to point out.) Other areas are still heading for complete coverage so Alice will be here a while longer; we’re moving on.

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Thanks to everyone who sent photos of this morning’s moonset,seen over the Olympics before 7 am. Here are some of them! The top photo was texted anonymously; next one is from Stephanie Bruno on Atlas Place:

From Michael Burke in Fauntlee Hills:

And from Patricia, just before it went out of view:

Again, big thanks! Best way to send us photos if you can is westseattleblog@gmail.com – texting to 206-293-6302 also works, especially if it’s urgent (breaking news).

P.S. The current moon phase is part of the info on our West Seattle Weather page (recently added at a reader’s suggestion).

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West Seattle skywatching expert/educator Alice Enevoldsen was looking ahead to eclipses as well as the spring equinox during her change-of-seasons sunset watch tonight at Solstice Park. The upcoming solar eclipse will peak at 20 percent coverage in our area, and unless the day/time (11:29 am Monday, April 8) arrives with heavy rain/fog, she’ll be leading a viewing event somewhere. (Here’s the eclipse-info page on her website.) She brought special viewing glasses to tonight’s event. Alice also talked about an upcoming lunar eclipse, overnight next Sunday to Monday (March 24-25) – explained here by Space.com, which says it’ll be “underwhelming” because it’s a shadow eclipse, not total coverage. Now, back to the spring equinox (which officially arrived less than an hour after tonight’s sunset):

As tonight’s attendees got to see firsthand, Alice hosts her gatherings at Solstice Park because of its unique features – paths and stone markers that line up with the setting sun at equinoxes and solstices, as seen in this photo (which also shows the globe she uses to explain planetary positions at those season-change moments):

The setting sun will be in almost the same path tomorrow night too – but likely not visible, as the forecast says clouds are on their way back.

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Welcome to the first full day of winter! Three hours before the season started with the solstice moment at 7:27 pm Thursday, more than 50 people joined educator/expert skywatcher Alice Enevoldsen for her 59th change-of-seasons sunset watch. This time, those gathered at Solstice Park saw the sun slip behind the tall trees of Lincoln Park across the way:

Key attributes at upper Solstice Park are the paths and stones that align with the sunset on the solstices and equinoxes, so checking out those views was popular just before sunset:

Then it was time for a centerpiece of the sunset watches – Alice’s interactive explanation of the earth’s tilt at solstices and equinoxes, with young volunteer Meredith at the center of the circle, portraying the sun:

Alice also explained how your views of constellations change during the year, responding to an attendee’s question, and talked a bit about the solar eclipse coming up on April 8th – only 20 percent coverage or so in our area, “but a nice partial eclipse,” she said. But before then, her 60th quarterly sunset watch will mark the arrival of spring – be at Solstice Park at 6:30 pm March 19,

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Thanks to everyone who sent photos! The clouds made for some dramatic views of this morning’s partial solar eclipse. Above is what Coleman Smith saw from 35th and Holden. Below, Brian‘s view from Highland Park:

Highland Park is also where West Seattle skywatching expert/educator Alice Enevoldsen hosted an eclipse-viewing event at Westcrest Park. Jason Enevoldsen shared this photo:

For a closeup view of the mostly-covered sun, here’s what Jamie Kinney saw:

And another look through the clouds, via William Wright‘s photo:

(added) From Scott Nelson:

And from Kevin Freitas:

The eclipse peaked in our area with 80 percent coverage at 9:20 am. Next spring, April 8th, 2024, will bring another partial solar eclipse – 20 percent coverage in that area – watch Alice’s website for viewing info (and advice).

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Tonight’s sunset ended the last weekend of summer. Autumn arrives at the equinox moment of 11:49 pm Friday (September 22nd). A few hours before that, educator and expert skywatcher Alice Enevoldsen will lead her next change-of-season sunset watch, starting at 6:30 pm at Solstice Park (7400 Fauntleroy Way SW, upslope). Not only will Alice explain the equinox, she’ll be talking about how to get ready to view the October 14th solar eclipse (partial in our area). Free eclipse-viewing glasses, too!

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The photo is from Nick, one of several people who emailed/texted late Friday night about that sight in the sky. It was another Starlink sighting. SpaceX launched another 22 internet-service satellites from Cape Canaveral, Florida, just after 8:30 pm our time Friday, and that was the fourth Starlink launch this month. However, that’s not what we were seeing here, according to FindStarlink.com – this “satellite train” was from Starlink 104, launched a week ago.

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Tonight the NOAA space weather forecast showed a potential for Aurora borealis over Seattle tonight. Went down to Alki Beach to try to catch a glimpse and saw … Something! To the naked eye it was mostly colorless, but the long exposure phone photos showed a lot more … taken around 11 pm.

Here’s a dramatic view from about an hour and a half north.

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The image was sent by Kevin Freitas, who’s offering you the chance to capture something similar, safely. Here’s his announcement:

Join local amateur photographer, sky watcher, and meteor hunter Kevin Freitas to learn how to capture a solar transit of the International Space Station. We’ll talk through how to set up your photo or video gear and apps to use to find transits and measure precise time. Then, just before 3:30, we’ll try to capture a transit!

The most important item you need is a solar filter to put atop your camera lens to filter out most of the Sun’s burning light. Don’t have a filter? Make your own with these filter sheets and some black tape. CAUTION: Never stare at or photograph the Sun without a proper solar filter!

When: Monday, July 31, 2:30-3:30 pm
Where: (update) New location – Magnolia Boulevard Viewpoint (map) – see comment discussion
RSVP: kevinfreitas.net@gmail.com or text 253-229-5093

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