Astronomical Observing at Fishcreek - Friday 8/24/2007

This event will feature the nearly-full Moon, the planet Jupiter, colorful double stars, open clusters made up of hundreds of stars, globular clusters comprised of hundreds of thousands of stars, and a host of brighter deep sky objects.  The fainter objects will, unfortunately, be obscured by the brightness of the Moon.

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 6:40am
     Transit: 1:28pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South)
     Sets 8:14pm
     Constellation: Leo
     Distance: 1.01094162 AU = 151,234,714 km = 93,972,896 miles
     Magnitude: -26.7
     Apparent size: 31.64 arcminutes in angular diameter
     Civil twilight ends at 8:40pm ( When the Sun is 6 degrees below the horizon )
     Nautical twilight ends at 9:15pm ( When the Sun is 12 degrees below the horizon )
     Astronomical twilight ends at 9:52pm ( When the Sun is 18 degrees below the horizon )
     Autumnal Equinox: Sunday Sept 23, 2007 at 5:51am (when fall will officially be here)
     Next Solar Eclipses in Stow, Ohio:
          Partial eclipse (>80%) on Monday August 21, 2017 2:30pm EDT
          Total eclipse (an amazing sight!) on Monday April 8, 2024 2:15pm EST (3:15pm EDT)
     At 9:15pm the Sun will be 12° below the north western horizon
     (back to 'Quick Links')

Moon data:
     Rise 6:08am
     Transit: 10:38pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South)
     Sets 3:12am Aug 25
     Constellation: Sagittarius
     Phase: 86.38% illuminated (waxing gibbous)
     12.09 days since last New Moon
     Distance: 0.00255918 AU = 382,847 km = 237,890 miles
     Magnitude: -11.6
     Apparent size: 31.20 arcminutes in angular diameter
     Elongation from Sun: 136.59 degrees (evening sky)
     Next Phase: Full Moon on Tuesday Aug 28, 2007 at 6:35am
     Next Lunar eclipse: Tuesday August 28, 2007 at 5:51am
     At 9:15pm the Moon will be 19⅓º above the west south-eastern horizon and look like this:
    
     (back to 'Quick Links')

Mercury data:
     Rise 7:22am
     Transit: 2:03pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South)
     Sets 8:41pm
     Constellation: Leo
     Phase: 95.73% illuminated
     Distance: 1.35812702 AU = 203,172,910 km = 126,245,795 miles
     Elongation from Sun: 9.06 degrees (evening sky)
     Magnitude: -1.0
     Apparent size: 4.95 arcseconds in angular diameter
     At 9:15pm Mercury is 7¼° below the north-western horizon
     (back to 'Quick Links')

Venus data:
     Rise: 6:10am
     Transit 12:38pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South)
     Set: 7:06pm
     Constellation: Cancer
     Phase: 2.71% illuminated (thin waxing crescent)
     Elongation from Sun: 13.52 degrees (morning sky)
     Distance: 0.29457293 AU = 44,067,483 km = 27,382,265 miles
     Magnitude: mag -4.1 Bright, visible in the morning just before sunrise
     Apparent size: 56.65 arcseconds in angular diameter
     At 9:15pm Venus will be 23¾º below the north-western horizon
     (back to 'Quick Links')

Mars data:
     Rise: 0:26am Aug 25
     Transit 7:52am Aug 25 (Time of highest position in the sky, due South)
     Set: 3:18pm Aug 25
     Constellation: Taurus
     Phase: 85.76% illuminated
     Distance: 1.19021054 AU = 178,052,962 km km = 110,636,983 miles
     Magnitude: mag 0.3
     Apparent size: 7.86 arcseconds in angular diameter (getting larger)
     Elongation from Sun: 80.31 degrees (morning sky)
     Next close approach of Mars is on Monday, Dec 24, 2007
     At 9:15pm Mars is 24¾º below the north north-east horizon
     No, Mars will NOT be 'as big as a Full Moon on August 27!'
     Please see the following links for more information about this annual 'Mars Hoax'
         http://www.skyandtelescope.com/news/8708182.html
         http://www.snopes.com/science/mars.asp
         http://www.hoax-slayer.com/mars-earth-close.html
         http://www.universetoday.com/2007/07/25/will-the-mars-look-as-big-as-the-moon-on-august-27-nope/
     (back to 'Quick Links')

Jupiter data:
     Rise: 3:04pm
     Transit 7:49pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South)
     Set: 0:35am Aug 25
     Constellation: Ophiuchus (pronounced oh-fee-oo'-cuss)
     Phase: 99.10% illuminated
     Distance: 5.04093944 AU = 754,113,806 km = 468,584,601 miles
     Magnitude: mag -2.2
     Elongation from Sun: 98.93 degrees (evening sky)
     Apparent size: 39.11 arcseconds in angular diameter
     At 9:15pm Jupiter will be 24¼º above the south south-west horizon
     Next transit of the Great Red Spot: Saturday Aug 25, 2007 at 4:18am
     GRS longitude: 116.5º
     This animated GIF of Jupiter and its four moons begins at 8:00pm EDT and runs until Jupiter is
     below the horizon at 0:35am 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: 6:28am
     Transit 1:21pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South)
     Set: 8:13pm
     Constellation: Leo
     Phase: 100.00% illuminated
     Distance: 10.24278616 AU = 1,532,298,999 km = 952,126,468 miles
     Magnitude: mag 0.6
     Elongation from Sun: 2.87 degrees (morning sky)
     Apparent size: 16.23 arcseconds in angular diameter
     At 9:15pm Saturn will be 11¾º below the north-western horizon
     (back to 'Quick Links')

Uranus data:
     Rise: 8:42pm
     Transit 2:27am Aug 25 (Time of highest position in the sky, due South)
     Set: 8:12am Aug 25
     Constellation: Aquarius
     Phase: 100.00% illuminated
     Distance: 19.11858873 AU = 2,860,100,164 km = 1,777,183,871 miles
     Magnitude: mag 5.7
     Elongation from Sun: 164.15 degrees (morning sky)
     Apparent size: 3.69 arcseconds in angular diameter
     At 9:15pm Uranus is 5º above the eastern horizon
     (back to 'Quick Links')

Neptune data:
     Rise: 7:33pm
     Transit: 0:44am Aug 25 (Time of highest position in the sky, due South)
     Set: 5:56am Aug 25
     Constellation: Capricornus
     Phase: 100.00% illuminated
     Distance: 29.05293022 AU = 4,346,256,498 km = 2,700,638,616 miles
     Magnitude: mag 7.8
     Elongation from Sun: 168.82 degrees (evening sky)
     Apparent size: 2.35 arcseconds in angular diameter
     At 9:15pm Neptune is 15¾º above the south eastern horizon
     (back to 'Quick Links')

Pluto (Dwarf Planet aka Asteroid 134340) data:
     Rise: 3:53pm
     Transit 8:58pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South)
     Set: 2:04am Aug 25
     Constellation: Sagittarius
     Phase: 99.98% illuminated
     Distance: 30.89714122 AU = 4,622,146,537 km = 2,872,068,740 miles
     Magnitude: mag 14.1
     Elongation from Sun: 114.67 degrees (evening sky)
     Apparent size: 0.11 arcseconds in angular diameter
     At 9:15pm Pluto is 32º 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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