Astronomical Observing at Fishcreek - Friday 7/20/2007
Last Friday's event
was a bit of a struggle with clouds that just wouldn't stay away despite our
best intentions. We had equipment set up until eleven thirty.
Despite this short session, we still got to see Venus, Saturn, Jupiter, a few
double stars and deepsky objects and Comet
C/2006 VZ13 LINEAR near the handle of the Big
Dipper. What's on tap for this Friday? We never know about the weather
so check the
weather forecast
when we get closer to the event to see what our chances are. Regardless, let's
plan on another great night under the stars. The Moon will be great
for viewing - a nearly first-quarter 'half moon' with lots of detail on the
terminator which will set early enough to give us
appreciators of
deepsky objects our dark skies. We'll also be viewing the three planets that are currently
available to us:
Saturn, with its beautiful rings,
Venus, appearing like a tiny crescent Moon (which are both almost lost in the
glare of the setting Sun) and Jupiter, the
king of the planets.
Jupiter's Great Red Spot should be visible as well as its four moons: Io,
Europa, Ganymede and Callisto. Double stars - some quite colorful - are another class of object
we love to observe and there are plenty of those to see. Globular
clusters, open clusters, planetary nebula and galaxies are all on the agenda.
We'll have another great night with plenty to keep us busy until who knows when.
Oh! One last thing...Comet
C/2006 VZ13 LINEAR should still be visible in
the telescopes despite it moving away from us at approximately 10,000 miles per
hour!
We hope to see you here for a night under the stars - our twelfth year.
Observing conditions in Stow, map to our location and other useful information
is available here:
ClearSkyClock for Fishcreek Site
(the darker blue the squares are, the better)
For
exact directions to our location, just click on 'Road Map' in the 'Nifty
Links' section immediately below the Sky Clock.
The following Sun, Moon and planet detail was calculated as it will be on
Friday, 7/20/07 at 10:06pm (nautical twilight).
Source: Guide8 software available from
www.projectpluto.com
Quick links:
Sun
Moon
Mercury
Venus
Mars
Jupiter
Saturn
Uranus
Neptune
Pluto &
General Information
All times are shown in EDT (Eastern Daylight Time) as seen from Stow, Ohio.
Sun data:
Rise 6:06am
Transit: 1:32pm (Time of highest position in the sky,
due South)
Sets 8:57pm
Constellation: Gemini
Distance: 1.01615910 AU = 152,015,237 km = 94,457,890
miles
Magnitude: -26.7
Apparent size: 31.48 arcminutes in angular diameter
Civil twilight ends at 9:26pm ( When the Sun is 6
degrees below the horizon )
Nautical twilight ends at 10:06pm ( When the Sun is 12
degrees below the horizon )
Astronomical twilight ends at 10:52pm ( When the Sun is
18 degrees below the horizon )
Autumnal Equinox: Sunday Sept 23, 2007 at 5:51am (when
fall will officially be here)
(back to 'Quick
Links')
Moon data:
Rise 12:27pm
Transit: 6:16pm (Time of highest position in the sky,
due South)
Sets 11:55pm
Constellation: Virgo
Phase: 38.75% illuminated (waxing crescent)
6.59 days since last New Moon
Distance: 0.00268169 AU = 401,175 km = 249,279 miles
Magnitude: -9.4
Apparent size: 29.78 arcminutes in angular diameter
Elongation from Sun: 76.85 degrees (evening sky)
Next Phase: First Quarter on Sunday July 22, 2007 at
2:29am
Next Lunar eclipse: Tuesday August 28, 2007 at 5:51am
At 10:06pm the Moon be at an altitude of 17º and look like this in
binoculars:
or like this in the telescopes - honest!
(back to 'Quick
Links')
Mercury data:
Rise 4:40am
Transit: 12:05pm (Time of highest position in the sky,
due South)
Sets 7:29pm
Constellation: Gemini
Phase: 38.96% illuminated (waxing crescent)
Distance: 0.87304761 AU = 130,606,063 km = 81,154,846
miles
Elongation from Sun: 20.32 degrees (morning sky)
Magnitude: 0.3
Apparent size: 7.70 arcseconds in angular diameter
(back to 'Quick
Links')
Venus data:
Rise: 9:10am
Transit 3:45pm (Time of highest position in the sky,
due South)
Set: 10:20pm
Constellation: Leo
Phase: 19.09% illuminated (waning crescent)
Elongation from Sun: 34.24 degrees (evening sky)
Distance: 0.39019464 AU = 58,372,288 km = 36,270,859
miles
Magnitude: mag -4.5 (VERY bright!)
Apparent size: 42.76 arcseconds in angular diameter
At 10:06pm Venus will be at an altitude of 1½º
and look like this in the telescopes:
(back to 'Quick
Links')
Mars data:
Rise: 1:32am Jul 21
Transit 8:37am Jul 21 (Time of highest position in the
sky, due South)
Set: 3:42pm Jul 21
Constellation: Aries
Phase: 86.60% illuminated
Distance: 1.37879175 AU = 206,264,311 km = 128,166,702
miles
Magnitude: mag 0.6
Apparent size: 6.79 arcseconds in angular diameter
(getting larger)
Elongation from Sun: 69.47 degrees (morning sky)
Next close approach of Mars is on Monday, Dec 24, 2007
(back to 'Quick
Links')
Jupiter data:
Rise: 5:21pm
Transit 10:07pm (Time of highest position in the sky,
due South)
Set: 2:53am Jul 21
Constellation: Ophiuchus (pronounced oh-fee-oo'-cuss)
Phase: 99.50% illuminated
Distance: 4.56625600 AU = 683,102,174 km = 424,460,018
miles
Magnitude: mag -2.4
Elongation from Sun: 132.38 degrees (evening sky)
Apparent size: 43.17 arcseconds in angular diameter
Next transit of the Great Red Spot: Saturday July 21,
2007 at 0:26am
At 10:06pm Jupiter and its four moons will be at an altitude of 27⅓º and look like this in the telescopes
(back to 'Quick
Links')
Saturn data:
Rise: 8:24am
Transit 3:22pm (Time of highest position in the sky,
due South)
Set: 10:19pm
Constellation: Leo
Phase: 99.94% illuminated
Distance: 10.12188252 AU = 1,514,212,072 km =
940,887,772 miles
Magnitude: mag 0.6
Elongation from Sun: 26.62 degrees (evening sky)
Apparent size: 16.42 arcseconds in angular diameter
At 10:06pm Saturn and three of its moons will be at an altitude of 1¼º and look like this in the telescopes
(back to 'Quick
Links')
Uranus data:
Rise: 11:02pm
Transit 4:49am Jul 21 (Time of highest position in the
sky, due South)
Set: 10:35am Jul 21
Constellation: Aquarius
Phase: 99.96% illuminated
Distance: 19.42953715 AU = 2,906,617,387 km =
1,806,088,334 miles
Magnitude: mag 5.8
Elongation from Sun: 129.58 degrees (morning sky)
Apparent size: 3.63 arcseconds in angular diameter
(back to 'Quick
Links')
Neptune data:
Rise: 9:53pm
Transit: 3:05am Jul 21 (Time of highest position in the
sky, due South)
Set: 8:18am Jul 21
Constellation: Capricornus
Phase: 100.00% illuminated
Distance: 29.10992448 AU = 4,354,782,718 km =
2,705,936,563 miles
Magnitude: mag 7.8
Elongation from Sun: 156.73 degrees (morning sky)
Apparent size: 2.35 arcseconds in angular diameter
(back to 'Quick
Links')
Pluto
(Dwarf Planet aka Asteroid 134340)
data:
Rise: 6:12pm
Transit 11:18pm (Time of highest position in the sky,
due South)
Set: 4:24am Jul 21
Constellation: Sagittarius
Phase: 99.99% illuminated
Distance: 30.44760650 AU = 4,554,897,100 km =
2,830,281,877 miles
Magnitude: mag 14.1
Elongation from Sun: 148.19 degrees (evening sky)
Apparent size: 0.11 arcseconds in angular diameter
(back to 'Quick
Links')
General Information -
Q&A of Where, When and What
Very sincerely yours,
Dave Jessie
"Time spent observing the heavens is not deducted from your life span"
Back to 'Quick Links'
Back
to home page