Astronomical Observing at Fishcreek - Friday 10/12/2007 Tonight's event will feature a Moonless sky all night since it sets at 7:13pm this evening. We'll have 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, will all be available to us the entire night. 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 in which we live, is directly overhead. We hope to see you here for a night under the stars - now in our thirteenth year! Above Horizon: Jupiter Uranus Neptune Pluto Below Horizon: Sun Mercury Venus Moon (nowhere to be seen tonight!) Mars Saturn Sun data: Rises: 7:30am Transits: 1:12pm - Time of highest position in the sky, due South Sets: 6:53pm Constellation: Virgo Distance: 0.99796276 AU = 149,293,104 km = 92,766,435 miles = 8.31 light-minutes Magnitude: -26.7 Apparent size: 32.05 arcminutes in angular diameter Twilight ends... Civil: 7:18pm - Sun is 6° below the horizon Nautical: 7:50pm - Sun is 12° below the horizon Astronomical: 8:22pm - Sun is 18° below the horizon 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 7:50pm the Sun will be 12° below the west horizon Moon data: Rises: 8:59am Transits: 2:10pm - Time of highest position in the sky, due South Sets: 7:13pm Constellation: Virgo Phase: 2.94% illuminated (waxing crescent) Distance: 0.0027221 AU = 407,221 km = 253,035 miles = 1.36 light-seconds Magnitude: -5.1 Apparent size: 29.33 arcminutes in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 19.69 degrees (evening sky) Age: 1.78 days since last New Moon Next Phase: First Quarter Moon on Friday Oct 19, 2007 at 4:33am Next Lunar eclipse: Total eclipse (100%) on Wednesday Feb 20, 2008 at 9:58pm EST At 7:50pm the Moon will be 7.6° below the west-southwest horizon Mercury data: Rises: 9:23am Transits: 2:24pm - Time of highest position in the sky, due South Sets: 7:25pm Constellation: Virgo Phase: 26.98% illuminated Distance: 0.76015411 AU = 113,717,436 km = 70,660,740 miles = 6.33 light-minutes Magnitude: 0.8 Apparent size: 8.85 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 20.04 degrees (evening sky) Next maximum elongations... Morning: Thursday 11/08/2007 (18° 58' 34") Evening: Tuesday 1/22/2008 (18° 38' 41") At 7:50pm Mercury will be 5.5° below the west-southwest horizon Venus data: Rises: 3:45am Transits: 10:21am - Time of highest position in the sky, due South Sets: 4:58pm Constellation: Leo Phase: 41.33% illuminated (waxing crescent) Distance: 0.57472965 AU = 85,978,332 km = 53,424,459 miles = 4.79 light-minutes Magnitude: -4.5 Bright, visible in the morning well before sunrise Apparent size: 29.03 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 45.46 degrees (morning sky) Next maximum elongations... Morning: Sunday 10/28/2007 (46° 27' 59") Evening: Wednesday 1/14/2009 (47° 07' 21") At 7:50pm Venus will be 29.3° below the northwest horizon Mars data: Rises: 10:48pm Transits: 6:25am Oct 13 - Time of highest position in the sky, due South Sets: 2:01pm Oct 13 Constellation: Gemini Phase: 87.81% illuminated Distance: 0.88882793 AU = 132,966,766 km = 82,621,719 miles = 7.4 light-minutes Magnitude: -0.3 (getting brighter) Apparent size: 10.53 arcseconds in angular diameter (getting larger) Elongation from Sun: 103.50 degrees (morning sky) Next close approach: Monday Dec 24, 2007 At 7:50pm Mars will be 22.4° below the north-northeast horizon Jupiter data: Rises: 12:19pm Transits: 5:01pm - Time of highest position in the sky, due South Sets: 9:43pm Constellation: Ophiuchus (pronounced oh-fee-oo'-cuss) Phase: 99.37% illuminated Distance: 5.75519008 AU = 860,964,182 km = 534,978,347 miles = 47.94 light-minutes Magnitude: -1.9 Apparent size: 34.26 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 56.85 degrees (evening sky) At 7:50pm Jupiter will be 15.4º above the south-southwest horizon Next transit of the Great Red Spot: Saturday Oct 13, 2007 at 00:05am GRS longitude: 117.6º Jupiter satellite events tonight: Io Transit starts at 8:10pm Io Shadow Transit starts at 9:14pm Europa comes out of eclipse at 9:15pm Io Transit ends at 10:22pm (but Jupiter will have already set) Io Shadow Transit ends at 11:26pm (but Jupiter will have already set) Saturn data: Rises: 3:46am Transits: 10:30am - Time of highest position in the sky, due South Sets: 5:15pm Constellation: Leo Phase: 99.86% illuminated Distance: 9.93005084 AU = 1,485,514,462 km = 923,055,904 miles = 1.38 light-hours Magnitude: 0.8 Apparent size: 16.74 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 44.56 degrees (morning sky) At 7:50pm Saturn will be 26.1° below the northwest horizon Uranus data: Rises: 5:25pm Transits: 11:08pm - Time of highest position in the sky, due South Sets: 4:50am Oct 13 Constellation: Aquarius Phase: 99.98% illuminated Distance: 19.25704164 AU = 2,880,812,425 km = 1,790,053,873 miles = 2.67 light-hours Magnitude: 5.7 Apparent size: 3.66 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 146.20 degrees (evening sky) At 7:50pm Uranus will be 24.1° above the east-southeast horizon Neptune data: Rises: 4:17pm Transits: 9:28pm - Time of highest position in the sky, due South Sets: 2:38am Oct 13 Constellation: Capricornus Phase: 99.98% illuminated Distance: 29.53183406 AU = 4,417,899,493 km = 2,745,155,509 miles = 4.1 light-hours Magnitude: 7.9 Apparent size: 2.31 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 120.07 degrees (evening sky) At 7:50pm Neptune will be 29.1° above the southeast horizon Pluto (Dwarf Planet aka Asteroid 134340) data: Rises: 12:43pm Transits: 5:47pm - Time of highest position in the sky, due South Sets: 10:51pm Constellation: Sagittarius Phase: 99.98% illuminated Distance: 31.7242081 AU = 4,745,873,981 km = 2,948,949,411 miles = 4.40 light-hours Magnitude: 14.2 Apparent size: 0.10 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 67.52 degrees (evening sky) At 7:50pm Pluto will be 25.4° above the south-southwest horizon Very sincerely yours, Dave Jessie "Time spent observing the heavens is not deducted from your life span"