Oracle Night Sky Charm

Milky Way, Oracle State Park, 28 June 2025. Photo by Mike Weasner.

Welcome to the 7th edition of “Oracle Night Sky Charm”. These monthly articles will help you enjoy Oracle’s Night Sky. You will also learn why it is important to protect our Night Sky Heritage.

The Milky Way

The “Milky Way” is the band of light you can see in the night sky from a dark location. The Milky Way Galaxy is about 100,000 light years (588,000,000,000,000,000 miles) across, yet is only about 1,000 light years thick (5,900,000,000,000,000 miles). It has 100-400 billion stars. Current theory is that our galaxy is about 13.6 billion years old. Our planet Earth is about 30,000 light years (176,000,000,000,000,000 miles) from the center of our galaxy and is about 4.5 billion years old. It takes about 250 million years for our Sun and the Earth to make one revolution around the center of our galaxy. The “Summer Milky Way” (photograph at the top of this page) is what you see when looking towards the center of our galaxy. Several years ago it was reported that 80% of the world's population could not see the Milky Way due to Light Pollution from unnecessary and bad Artificial Light at Night. People who can see the Milky Way feel more connected to Nature and the Universe than those who cannot see it. Recent studies indicate that this connectedness helps with human mental health. Thanks to Oracle’s dark night sky and efforts to protect it, visitors to Oracle State Park can see the Milky Way. Go outside on a clear moonless night a couple of hours after sunset and look towards the southeastern horizon (where the center of our galaxy is located). From Oracle you will easily see the Milky Way above the horizon from the northeast to the southeast. Since you are made of “star stuff”, what you see is part of you and your Night Sky Heritage. Help protect it for you and future generations.

Visible Planets

Red planet Mars is still visible in the western sky, but it gets lower and fainter each night. If you are an early riser, check out the bright planets Jupiter and Venus low in the eastern sky on 12 August at about 4 AM. They will appear as a “double planet” less than 1º (about 2 Full Moons) apart.

Looking east at 4 AM on 12 August 2025. Chart from SkySafari Pro.

And while you are looking at these planets, look for the “Winter Milky Way” above the eastern horizon. It is brightest near the constellation of Orion. Unlike when you are looking at the Summer Milky Way, when seeing the Winter Milky Way you are looking outward from our galaxy.

If there is something you would like discussed in “Oracle Night Sky Charm”, 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 Friends of Oracle State Park.