Astronomical Observing at Fishcreek - Friday 10/19/2007 Tonight's event will feature a just past First Quarter Moon with lots of detail visible on the terminator - the line separating lunar day from night. We'll have the planet Jupiter which is almost gone for this season, but two of its moons will be putting on a show for us: Europa moves behind Jupiter at 7:15pm and Ganymede comes out of eclipse at 8:12pm low on the horizon, 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. Bring binoculars if you have them, there’s plenty to see with them if you know where to look - and we’ll be happy to show you! We hope to see you here for a night under the stars - now in our thirteenth year! The following Sun, Moon and planet detail was calculated as it will be on Friday 10/19/07 at 7:39:15pm (nautical twilight). Source: Guide8 software available from www.projectpluto.com Above Horizon: Moon Jupiter Uranus Neptune Pluto Below Horizon: Sun Mercury Venus Mars Saturn Sun data: Rises: 7:38am Transits: 1 10pm - Time of highest position in the sky, due South Sets: 6:42pm Constellation: Virgo Distance: 0.99594239 AU = 148,990,861 km = 92,578,630 miles = 8.3 light-minutes Magnitude: -26.7 Apparent size: 32.12 arcminutes in angular diameter Twilight ends... Civil: 7:07pm - Sun is 6° below the horizon Nautical: 7:39pm - Sun is 12° below the horizon Astronomical: 8:11pm - 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 7:39pm the Sun will be 12º below the west-southwest horizon Moon data: Rises: 3:14pm Transits: 8:00pm - Time of highest position in the sky, due South Sets: 0:54pm Oct 20 Constellation: Capricornus Phase: 56.46% illuminated (waxing gibbous) Distance: 0.00256411 AU = 383,586 km = 238,349 miles = 1.28 light-seconds Magnitude: -10.4 Apparent size: 31.14 arcminutes in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 97.28 degrees (evening sky) Age: 8.78 days since last New Moon Next Phase: Full Moon on Friday Oct 26, 2007 at 0:52am Next Lunar eclipse: Total eclipse (100%) on Wednesday Feb 20, 2008 at 9:58pm EST At 7:39pm the Moon will be 25.8º above the south-southeast horizon. Mercury data: Rises: 8:34am Transits: 1:42pm - Time of highest position in the sky, due South Sets: 6:52pm Constellation: Virgo Phase: 5.45% illuminated Distance: 0.675904 AU = 101,113,799 km = 62,829,203 miles = 5.63 light-minutes Magnitude: 3.0 Apparent size: 9.95 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 9.05 degrees (evening sky) Next maximum elongations... Morning: Thursday 11/08/2007 (18° 58' 34") Evening: Tuesday 1/22/2008 (18° 38' 41") At 7:39pm Mercury will be 9.7º below the west-southwest horizon Venus data: Rises: 3:47am Transits: 10:18am - Time of highest position in the sky, due South Sets: 4:49pm Constellation: Leo Phase: 45.66% illuminated (waxing crescent) Distance: 0.62690858 AU = 93,784,188 km = 58,274,793 miles = 5.22 light-minutes Magnitude: -4.4 Bright, visible in the morning well before sunrise Apparent size: 26.62 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 46.18 degrees (morning sky) Next maximum elongations... Morning: Sunday 10/28/2007 (46° 27' 59") Evening: Wednesday 1/14/2009 (47° 07' 21") At 7:39pm Venus will be 29.5º below the west-northwest horizon Mars data: Rises: 10:31pm Transits: 6:07am Oct 20 - Time of highest position in the sky, due South Sets: 1:44pm Oct 20 Constellation: Gemini Phase: 88.65% illuminated Distance: 0.84421829 AU = 126,293,259 km = 78,474,994 miles = 7.03 light-minutes Magnitude: -0.4 (getting brighter) Apparent size: 11.08 arcseconds in angular diameter (getting larger) Elongation from Sun: 108.09 degrees (morning sky) Next close approach: Monday Dec 24, 2007 At 7:39pm Mars will be 21.8º below the north horizon. Jupiter data: Rises: 11:57am Transits: 4:38pm - Time of highest position in the sky, due South Sets: 9:20pm Constellation: Ophiuchus (pronounced oh-fee-oo'-cuss) Phase: 99.46% illuminated Distance: 5.84121632 AU = 873,833,524 km = 542,974,985 miles = 48.65 light-minutes Magnitude: -1.9 Apparent size: 33.75 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 51.14 degrees (evening sky) At 7:39pm Jupiter will be 13.8º above the south-southwest horizon Next transit of the Great Red Spot: Saturday Oct 20 2007 at 0:55am GRS longitude: 117.8º Lots of action with Jupiter's moons tonight: Europa moves behind Jupiter at 7:15pm Ganymede comes out of eclipse at 8:12pm Saturn data: Rises: 3:22am Transits: 10:05am - Time of highest position in the sky, due South Sets: 4:49pm Constellation: Leo Phase: 99.83% illuminated Distance: 9.84453364 AU = 1,472,721,270 km = 915,106,583 miles = 1.37 light-hours Magnitude: 0.8 Apparent size: 16.88 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 50.80 degrees (morning sky) At 7:39pm Saturn will be 28.2º below the northwest horizon Uranus data: Rises: 4:57pm Transits: 10:40pm - Time of highest position in the sky, due South Sets: 4:22am Oct 20 Constellation: Aquarius Phase: 99.97% illuminated Distance: 19.33116736 AU = 2,891,901,475 km = 1,796,944,290 miles = 2.68 light-hours Magnitude: 5.8 Apparent size: 3.65 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 139.06 degrees (evening sky) At 7:39pm Uranus will be 26.8º above the east-southeast horizon Neptune data: Rises: 3:50pm Transits: 9:00pm - Time of highest position in the sky, due South Sets: 2:10am Oct 20 Constellation: Capricornus Phase: 99.98% illuminated Distance: 29.63978588 AU = 4,434,048,855 km = 2,755,190,258 miles = 4.11 light-hours Magnitude: 7.9 Apparent size: 2.30 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 113.08 degrees (evening sky) At 7:39pm Neptune will be 30.5º above the southeast horizon Pluto (Dwarf Planet aka Asteroid 134340) data Rises: 12:16pm Transits: 5:20pm - Time of highest position in the sky, due South Sets: 10:24pm Constellation: Sagittarius Phase: 99.98% illuminated Distance: 31.83372951 AU = 4,762,258,151 km = 2,959,130,062 miles = 4.42 light-hours Magnitude: 14.2 Apparent size: 0.10 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 60.77 degrees (evening sky) At 7:39pm Pluto will be 23.6º above the south-southwest horizon Very sincerely yours, Dave Jessie "Time spent observing the heavens is not deducted from your life span"