Astronomical Observing at Fishcreek - Friday 6/20/2008 Tonight's event will, again, be somewhat limited by a nearly full Moon the entire night. We will be able to see the beautiful planet Saturn, colorful double stars, open clusters made up of hundreds of stars, globular clusters comprised of hundreds of thousands of stars. Unfortunately, the planetary nebula formed by dying stars, diffuse nebula and emission nebula where stars are being born, and galaxies will be rendered invisible to us by the brightness of the full Moon. Saturn is beautiful beyond words! If you've never seen Saturn through a telescope, you owe it to yourself to do so. It's said that one picture is worth a thousand words, but no picture can match the majesty of the real thing! Jupiter is visible, if you stay after midnight when it will be high enough to clear the trees to our east. 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 6/20/08 at 10:18:58pm (nautical twilight). Source: Guide8 software available from www.projectpluto.com All times are shown in EDT (Eastern Daylight Time) as seen from Stow, Ohio. Above Horizon: Moon (rises at 10:46pm) Mars Jupiter (rises at 10:09pm) Saturn Pluto Below Horizon: Sun Mercury Venus Uranus Neptune The following Sun, Moon and planet detail was calculated as it will be on Friday 6/20/08 at 10:18:58pm (nautical twilight). Source: Guide8 software available from www.projectpluto.com All times are shown in EDT (Eastern Daylight Time) as seen from Stow, Ohio. Sun data: Rise 5:49am Transit: 1:27pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Sets 9:05pm Constellation: Taurus Distance: 1.01626616 AU = 152,031,254 km = 94,467,843 miles = 8.46 light-minutes Magnitude: -26.7 Apparent size: 31.48 arcminutes in angular diameter Civil twilight ends at 9:36pm ( When the Sun is 6 degrees below the horizon ) Nautical twilight ends at 10:19pm ( When the Sun is 12 degrees below the horizon ) Astronomical twilight ends at 11:11pm ( When the Sun is 18 degrees below the horizon ) Summer Solstice: Friday Jun 20, 2008 at 8:00pm (when winter will officially be here) Next Solar Eclipse: Partial eclipse (>80%) on Monday August 21, 2017 2:30pm EDT On 6/20/2008 at 10:18:58pm the Sun will be 12º below the northwest horizon Moon data: Rise: 10:46pm Transit: 3:32am June 21 (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Sets: 8:24am June 21 Constellation: Sagittarius Phase: 94.62% illuminated (waning gibbous) 17.29 days since last New Moon Distance: 0.00267725 AU = 400,511 km = 248,866 miles = 1.34 light-seconds Magnitude: -11.9 Apparent size: 29.83 arcminutes in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 153.11 degrees (morning sky) Next Phase: Last Quarter on Thursday June 26, 2008 at 8:10am Next Lunar eclipse: Total eclipse (100%) on Sunday Sept 27, 2015 at 10:10pm EDT On 6/20/2008 at 10:18:58pm the Moon will be 5.8º below the east-southeast horizon Mercury data: Rise: 5:05am Transit: 12:17pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Sets: 7:29pm Constellation: Taurus Phase: 14.00% illuminated Distance: 0.65051121 AU = 97,315,092 km = 60,468,795 miles = 5.42 light-minutes Magnitude: 2.0 Apparent size: 10.34 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 17.57 degrees (morning sky) Next maximum elongations... Morning: Tuesday, July 01, 2008 (21° 47' 03") Evening: Thursday, September 11, 2008 (26° 52' 17") On 6/20/2008 at 10:18:58pm Mercury will be 24.9º below the northwest horizon Venus data: Rise: 6:02am Transit 1:41pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Set: 9:20pm Constellation: Gemini Phase: 99.83% illuminated Distance: 1.73145482 AU = 259,021,954 km = 160,948,782 miles = 14.42 light-minutes Magnitude: -3.9 Bright, visible in the morning well before sunrise Apparent size: 9.64 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 3.30 degrees (evening sky) Next maximum elongations... Evening: Wednesday, January 14, 2009 (47° 07' 21") Morning: Friday, June 05, 2009 (45° 51' 07") On 6/20/2008 at 10:18:58pm Venus will be 9.7º below the west-northwest horizon Mars data: Rise: 10:13am Transit 5:13pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Set: 12:12am June 21 Constellation: Leo Phase: 93.48% illuminated Distance: 2.04427546 AU = 305,819,256 km = 190,027,278 miles = 17.03 light-minutes Magnitude: 1.6 Apparent size: 4.58 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 53.67 degrees (evening sky) Next close approach of Mars is on Friday, Jan 29, 2010 On 6/20/2008 at 10:18:58pm Mars will be 19.8º above the west 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/ Jupiter data: Rise: 10:09pm Transit 2:51am June 21 (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Set: 7:34am June 21 Constellation: Sagittarius Phase: 99.89% illuminated Distance: 4.21611328 AU = 630,721,569 km = 391,912,218 miles = 35.12 light-minutes Magnitude: -2.7 Apparent size: 46.76 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 160.38 degrees (morning sky) On 6/20/2008 at 10:18:58pm Jupiter will be 0.5º above the east-southeast horizon Jupiter satellite events tonight: Io goes into eclipse on Saturday June 21, 2008 at 1:52am Europa goes into eclipse on Saturday June 21, 2008 at 2:24am Io comes out of eclipse on Saturday June 21, 2008 at 4:33am Europa comes out of eclipse on Saturday June 21, 2008 at 6:04am Next transit of the Great Red Spot: Friday June 20, 2008 11:05pm GRS longitude: 123.1 Saturn data: Rise: 11:05am Transit 5:52pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Set: 12:39am June 21 Constellation: Leo Phase: 99.76% illuminated Distance: 9.71958747 AU = 1,454,029,589 km = 903,492,111 miles = 1.35 light-hours Magnitude: 0.8 Apparent size: 17.10 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 63.60 degrees (evening sky) On 6/20/2008 at 10:18:58pm Saturn will be 25.2º above the west-southwest horizon Uranus data: Rise: 1:07am June 21 Transit 6:59am June 21 (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Set: 12:52pm June 21 Constellation: Aquarius Phase: 99.94% illuminated Distance: 19.94046572 AU = 2,983,051,212 km = 1,853,582,111 miles = 2.77 light-hours Magnitude: 5.8 Apparent size: 3.53 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 97.45 degrees (morning sky) On 6/20/2008 at 10:18:58pm Uranus will be 32º below the northeast horizon Neptune data: Rise: 11:56pm Transit: 5:12am June 21 (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Set: 10:27am June 21 Constellation: Capricornus Phase: 99.98% illuminated Distance: 29.42980741 AU = 4,402,636,523 km = 2,735,671,539 miles = 4.09 light-hours Magnitude: 7.9 Apparent size: 2.32 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 126.01 degrees (morning sky) On 6/20/2008 at 10:18:58pm Neptune will be 19.2º below the east horizon Pluto (Dwarf Planet aka Asteroid 134340) data: Rise: 8:22pm Transit 1:25am June 21 (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Set: 6:29am June 21 Constellation: Sagittarius Phase: 100.00% illuminated Distance: 30.46929599 AU = 4,558,141,801 km = 2,832,298,041 miles = 4.23 light-hours Magnitude: 14.1 Apparent size: 0.11 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 173.60 degrees (evening sky) On 6/20/2008 at 10:18:58pm Pluto will be 17.4º above the east-southeast horizon