Astronomical Observing at Fishcreek - Friday 8/17/2007

This week we have a less-than-First Quarter Moon which sets relatively early.  The first quarter phase of the Moon is the very best time to observe it with telescopes since there's a wealth of detail visible.  There will be plenty of opportunity to observe those faint deep sky objects, too!  Jupiter is currently our only 'show piece' planet to view since the Earth's path around the Sun has placed Venus and Saturn out of view - lost in the glare of the Sun until they both become observable in the morning before sunrise.

for a list of DeepSky Objects that will be available to us this session.

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.

Quick links:
General Information    Inner Solar System     Outer Solar System

Sun data:
     Rise 6:33am
     Transit: 1:29pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South)
     Sets 8:25pm
     Constellation: Leo
     Distance: 1.01240323 AU = 151,453,368 km = 94,108,761 miles
     Magnitude: -26.7
     Apparent size: 31.60 arcminutes in angular diameter
     Civil twilight ends at 8:51pm ( When the Sun is 6 degrees below the horizon )
     Nautical twilight ends at 9:27pm ( When the Sun is 12 degrees below the horizon )
     Astronomical twilight ends at 10:05pm ( When the Sun is 18 degrees below the horizon )
     Autumnal Equinox: Sunday Sept 23, 2007 at 5:51am (when fall will officially be here)
     At 9:27pm the Sun will be 12° below the north western horizon
     (back to 'Quick Links')

Moon data:
     Rise 11:16am
     Transit: 4:52pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South)
     Sets 10:19pm
     Constellation: Virgo
     Phase: 23.38% illuminated (waxing crescent)
     5.10 days since last New Moon
     Distance: 0.00269419 AU = 403,045 km = 250,441 miles
     Magnitude: -8.6
     Apparent size: 29.64 arcminutes in angular diameter
     Elongation from Sun: 57.71 degrees (evening sky)
     Next Phase: First Quarter Moon on Monday Aug 20, 2007 at 7:54pm
     Next Lunar eclipse: Tuesday August 28, 2007 at 5:51am
     At 9:27pm the Moon will be 7¾º above the west south-western horizon and look like this:
    
     (back to 'Quick Links')

Mercury data:
     Rise 6:39am
     Transit: 1:40pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South)
     Sets 8:38pm
     Constellation: Leo
     Phase: 99.47% illuminated (waning gibbous)
     Distance: 1.36063746 AU = 203,548,466 km = 126,479,155 miles
     Elongation from Sun: 2.91 degrees (evening sky)
     Magnitude: -1.7
     Apparent size: 4.94 arcseconds in angular diameter
     At 9:27pm Mercury is 9½° below the north-western horizon
     (back to 'Quick Links')

Venus data:
     Rise: 6:57am
     Transit 1:21pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South)
     Set: 7:46pm
     Constellation: Hydra
     Phase: 0.94% illuminated (thin waning crescent)
     Elongation from Sun: 7.98 degrees (morning sky)
     Distance: 0.28819062 AU = 43,112,704 km = 26,788,993 miles
     Magnitude: mag -4.0 Bright, but below the horizon at Nautical Twilight
     Apparent size: 57.90 arcseconds in angular diameter
     At 9:27pm Venus will be 19⅓º below the north western horizon
     (back to 'Quick Links')

Mars data:
     Rise: 0:38am Aug 18
     Transit 8:01am Aug 18 (Time of highest position in the sky, due South)
     Set: 3:25pm Aug 18
     Constellation: Taurus
     Phase: 85.83% illuminated
     Distance: 1.22976701 AU = 183,970,526 km = 114,313,987 miles
     Magnitude: mag 0.4
     Apparent size: 7.61 arcseconds in angular diameter (getting larger)
     Elongation from Sun: 77.87 degrees (morning sky)
     Next close approach of Mars is on Monday, Dec 24, 2007
     At 9:27pm Mars is 25⅓º below the north north-east horizon
     (back to 'Quick Links')

Jupiter data:
     Rise: 3:30pm
     Transit 8:16pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South)
     Set: 1:01am Aug 18
     Constellation: Ophiuchus (pronounced oh-fee-oo'-cuss)
     Phase: 99.14% illuminated
     Distance: 4.93648115 AU = 738,487,069 km = 458,874,596 miles
     Magnitude: mag -2.3
     Elongation from Sun: 105.35 degrees (evening sky)
     Apparent size: 39.94 arcseconds in angular diameter
     At 9:27pm Jupiter will be 25¼º above the south south-west horizon
     Next transit of the Great Red Spot: Saturday Aug 18, 2007 at 3:30am
     GRS longitude: 116.4º
     This animated GIF of Jupiter and its four moons begins at 8:00pm EDT and runs until Jupiter is
     below the horizon at 1:01am Saturday morning.  You can read the altitude and azimuth in the
     caption below Jupiter.  This image is neither inverted nor reversed - Jupiter will look like this in
     binoculars or a non-inverting telescope.  Frames are 15 minutes apart.
     'Alt' is degrees above the horizon, 'Az' is azimuth: 0 is north, 90 is east, 180 is south and 270 is west
    
     (back to 'Quick Links')

Saturn data:
     Rise: 6:51am
     Transit 1:45pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South)
     Set: 8:38pm
     Constellation: Leo
     Phase: 100.00% illuminated
     Distance: 10.24181470 AU = 1,532,153,671 km = 952,036,165 miles
     Magnitude: mag 0.6
     Elongation from Sun: 3.51 degrees (evening sky)
     Apparent size: 16.23 arcseconds in angular diameter
     At 9:27pm Saturn will be 9½º below the north western horizon
     (back to 'Quick Links')

Uranus data:
     Rise: 9:10pm
     Transit 2:56am Aug 18 (Time of highest position in the sky, due South)
     Set: 8:41am Aug 18
     Constellation: Aquarius
     Phase: 99.99% illuminated
     Distance: 19.15593444 AU = 2,865,687,003 km = 1,780,655,372 miles
     Magnitude: mag 5.7
     Elongation from Sun: 157.17 degrees (morning sky)
     Apparent size: 3.68 arcseconds in angular diameter
     At 9:27pm Uranus is 2º above the eastern horizon
     (back to 'Quick Links')

Neptune data:
     Rise: 8:01pm
     Transit: 1:12am Aug 18 (Time of highest position in the sky, due South)
     Set: 6:24am Aug 18
     Constellation: Capricornus
     Phase: 100.00% illuminated
     Distance: 29.03579184 AU = 4,343,692,633 km = 2,699,045,504 miles
     Magnitude: mag 7.8
     Elongation from Sun: 175.74 degrees (evening sky)
     Apparent size: 2.35 arcseconds in angular diameter
     At 9:27pm Neptune is 13⅓º above the south eastern horizon
     (back to 'Quick Links')

Pluto (Dwarf Planet aka Asteroid 134340) data:
     Rise: 4:21pm
     Transit 9:26pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South)
     Set: 2:32am Aug 18
     Constellation: Sagittarius
     Phase: 99.98% illuminated
     Distance: 30.78984093 AU = 4,606,094,642 km = 2,862,094,555 miles
     Magnitude: mag 14.1
     Elongation from Sun: 121.39 degrees (evening sky)
     Apparent size: 0.11 arcseconds in angular diameter
     At 9:27pm Pluto is 32⅓º above the southern horizon
     (back to 'Quick Links')

Inner Solar System

Outer Solar System

 

General Information about our events - Q&A of Where, When and What 

Very sincerely yours,
Dave Jessie
"Time spent observing the heavens is not deducted from your life span"

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