Astronomical Observing at Fishcreek - Friday 9/14/2007

Tonight's event will feature a dark sky the entire night since the Moon is just past new and sets at 8:45pm this evening.  We'll have all our favorite deep sky objects available as well as the planet Jupiter, colorful double stars, open clusters made up of hundreds of stars, globular clusters comprised of hundreds of thousands of stars, planetary nebula formed by dying stars, diffuse nebula and emission nebula where stars are being born, from which to choose.  Many amateur astronomers feel that late fall is the best time to observe since there are beautiful objects of all categories available and the Milky Way, the galaxy we live in, is directly overhead.

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)

Quick links:
    Inner Solar System     Outer Solar System    General Information about our events

Sun data:
     Rise 7:01am
     Transit: 1:21pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South)
     Sets 7:40pm
     Constellation: Leo
     Distance: 1.00586719 AU = 150,475,591 km = 93,501,199 miles = 8.38 light-minutes
     Magnitude: -26.7
     Apparent size: 31.80 arcminutes in angular diameter
     Civil twilight ends at 8:05pm ( When the Sun is 6 degrees below the horizon )
     Nautical twilight ends at 8:37pm ( When the Sun is 12 degrees below the horizon )
     Astronomical twilight ends at 9:11pm ( When the Sun is 18 degrees below the horizon )
     Autumnal Equinox: Sunday Sept 23, 2007 at 5:51am (when fall will officially be here)
     Winter Solstice: Saturday Dec 22, 2007 at 2:08am (when winter 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 8:37pm the Sun will be 12° below the north-western horizon
     (back to 'Quick Links')

Moon data:
     Rise 10:06am
     Transit: 3:30pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South)
     Sets 8:45pm
     Constellation: Virgo
     Phase: 10.96% illuminated (waxing crescent)
     3.50 days since last New Moon
     Distance: 0.00270895 AU = 405,254 km = 251,813 miles = 1.35 light-seconds
     Magnitude: -7.4
     Apparent size: 29.48 arcminutes in angular diameter
     Elongation from Sun: 38.57 degrees (evening sky)
     Next Phase: First Quarter Moon on Wednesday Sep 19, 2007 at 12:48pm
     Next Lunar eclipse: Wednesday Feb 20, 2008 at 10:58pm
     Next Lunar eclipse: Total eclipse (100%) on Wednesday Feb 20, 2008 at 9:58pm EST
     At 8:37pm the Moon will be .1° below the south-western horizon
     but will look like this just prior to setting:
    
     (back to 'Quick Links')

Mercury data:
     Rise 8:57am
     Transit: 2:41pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South)
     Sets 8:25pm
     Constellation: Virgo
     Phase: 78.29% illuminated
     Distance: 1.19318643 AU = 178,498,149 km = 110,913,609 miles = 9.94 light-minutes
     Magnitude: -0.1
     Apparent size: 5.64 arcseconds in angular diameter
     Elongation from Sun: 22.44 degrees (evening sky)
     Next maximum elongations...
          Evening: Saturday 9/29/2007 at 4:08pm (25° 58' 58")
          Morning: Thursday, 11/08/2007 at 8:31pm (18° 58' 34")
     At 8:37pm Mercury will be 3.5° below the western horizon
     (back to 'Quick Links')

Venus data:
     Rise: 4:23am
     Transit 11:04am (Time of highest position in the sky, due South)
     Set: 5:44pm
     Constellation: Cancer
     Phase: 13.18% illuminated (waxing crescent)
     Distance: 0.38261764 AU = 57,238,785 km = 35,566,533 miles = 3.19 light-minutes
     Magnitude: mag -4.5 Bright, visible in the morning before sunrise
     Apparent size: 43.61 arcseconds in angular diameter
     Elongation from Sun: 34.92 degrees (morning sky)
     Next maximum elongations...
          Morning: Sunday 10/28/2007 at 3:05pm (46° 27' 59")
          Evening: Wednesday 1/14/2009 at 9:23pm (47° 07' 21")
     At 8:37pm Venus will be 29° below the north-western horizon
     (back to 'Quick Links')

Mars data:
     Rise: 11:47pm
     Transit 7:20am Sep 15 (Time of highest position in the sky, due South)
     Set: 2:53pm Sep 15
     Constellation: Taurus
     Phase: 85.99% illuminated
     Distance: 1.06561265 AU = 159,413,383 km = 99,054,885 miles = 8.88 light-minutes
     Magnitude: mag 0.1 (getting brighter)
     Apparent size: 8.78 arcseconds in angular diameter (getting larger)
     Elongation from Sun: 88.71 degrees (morning sky)
     Next close approach of Mars is on Monday, Dec 24, 2007
     At 8:37pm Mars is 23.5° below the north north-east horizon
     No, Mars was *not* "...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: 1:50pm
     Transit 6:34pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South)
     Set: 11:18pm
     Constellation: Ophiuchus (pronounced oh-fee-oo'-cuss)
     Phase: 99.11% illuminated
     Distance: 5.36046556 AU = 801,914,234 km = 498,286,410 miles = 44.65 light-minutes
     Magnitude: mag -2.1
     Apparent size: 36.78 arcseconds in angular diameter
     Elongation from Sun: 80.35 degrees (evening sky)
     At 8:37pm Jupiter will be 21º above the south south-west horizon
     No satellite events tonight
     Next transit of the Great Red Spot:  Friday Sep 14, 2007 at 8:48pm
     GRS longitude: 117.0º
     There are no Jupiter moons events tonight (transits, eclipses or shadow transits)
     This animated GIF of Jupiter and its four moons begins at 8:00:00pm EDT and runs until Jupiter
     is below the horizon.  You can read the altitude and azimuth in the caption below Jupiter.
     This image is neither inverted nor reversed and will look like this in binoculars or a non-inverting
     telescope.  Frames are 15 minutes apart.
     'Alt' is° above the horizon, 'Az' is azimuth: 0 is north, 90 is east, 180 is south and 270 is west
    
     Similar to last week, not much motion of Jupiter's moons is seen throughout the evening.
     The apparent eastward (left) motion of Jupiter and its moons relative to the background
     stars is due to the combined motion of Jupiter and Earth in their orbits around the Sun.
     (back to 'Quick Links')

Saturn data:
     Rise: 5:19am
     Transit 12:08pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South)
     Set: 6:57pm
     Constellation: Leo
     Phase: 99.96% illuminated
     Distance: 10.17524478 AU = 1,522,194,952 km = 945,848,104 miles = 1.41 light-hours
     Magnitude: mag 0.7
     Apparent size: 16.33 arcseconds in angular diameter
     Elongation from Sun: 20.31 degrees (morning sky)
     At 8:37pm Saturn will be 18° below the north-western horizon
     (back to 'Quick Links')

Uranus data:
     Rise: 7:18pm
     Transit 1:02am Sep 15 (Time of highest position in the sky, due South)
     Set: 6:45am Sep 15
     Constellation: Aquarius
     Phase: 100.00% illuminated
     Distance: 19.09177360 AU = 2,856,088,678 km = 1,774,691,249 miles = 2.65 light-hours
     Magnitude: mag 5.7
     Apparent size: 3.69 arcseconds in angular diameter
     Elongation from Sun: 174.62 degrees (evening sky)
     At 8:37pm Uranus is 13° above the east south-eastern horizon
     (back to 'Quick Links')

Neptune data:
     Rise: 6:09pm
     Transit: 11:20pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South)
     Set: 4:30am Sep 15
     Constellation: Capricornus
     Phase: 99.99% illuminated
     Distance: 29.18726010 AU = 4,366,351,963 km = 2,713,125,359 miles = 4.05 light-hours
     Magnitude: mag 7.8
     Apparent size: 2.34 arcseconds in angular diameter
     Elongation from Sun: 147.99 degrees (evening sky)
     At 8:37pm Neptune is 22° above the south eastern horizon
     (back to 'Quick Links')

Pluto (Dwarf Planet aka Asteroid 134340) data:
     Rise: 2:31pm
     Transit 7:36pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South)
     Set: 0:41am Sep 15
     Constellation: Sagittarius
     Phase: 99.97% illuminated
     Distance: 31.24822500 AU = 4,674,667,923 km = 2,904,704,017 miles = 4.34 light-hours
     Magnitude: mag 14.1
     Apparent size: 0.11 arcseconds in angular diameter
     Elongation from Sun: 94.47 degrees (evening sky)
     At 8:37pm Pluto is 30° above the southern horizon
     (back to 'Quick Links')

Inner Solar System - the Sun, Mercury, Venus and Earth

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Outer Solar System - the Sun, Mars, Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto

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General Information you should know 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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