Astronomical Observing at Fishcreek - Friday 6/27/2008 Tonight's event will feature a moonless sky for us all night since it sets at 10:35pm this evening. We'll 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, planetary nebula formed by dying stars, diffuse nebula and emission nebula where stars are being born, and galaxies galore will be available to us until the Moon rises above the trees around 2:15am. Saturn is beautiful beyond words! If you've never seen Saturn through a telescope, you owe it to yourself to do so. See it now while the rings are still visible - it is heading into the west earlier and earlier in the evening and in 2009, the rings will be edge-on and almost totally invisible. It's said that one picture is worth a thousand words, but no picture can match the majesty of the real thing! Jupiter will be visible, if you stay after 11:00pm or so when it will be high enough to clear the trees to the east of our observing field. 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: Mars Jupiter (rises at 10:09pm) Saturn Pluto Below Horizon: Sun Moon (rises at 1:41am Saturday) Mercury Venus Uranus Neptune The following Sun, Moon and planet detail was calculated as it will be on Friday 6/27/08 at 10:19:24pm (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 5:51am Transit: 1:28pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Sets 9:06pm Constellation: Gemini Distance: 1.01664148 AU = 152,087,401 km = 94,502,731 miles = 8.47 light-minutes Magnitude: -26.7 Apparent size: 31.46 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 ) Fall Equinox: Monday Sept 22, 2008 at 11:45am (when Fall will officially be here) Next Solar Eclipse: Partial eclipse (>80%) on Monday August 21, 2017 2:30pm EDT On 6/27/2008 at 10:19:24pm the Sun will be 12º below the northwest horizon Moon data: Rise: 1:41am June 28 Transit: 8:56am June 28 (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Sets: 4:25pm June 28 Constellation: Pisces Phase: 32.58% illuminated (waning gibbous) 24.29 days since last New Moon Distance: 0.00249378 AU = 373,064 km = 231,811 miles = 1.25 light-seconds Magnitude: -9.3 Apparent size: 32.02 arcminutes in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 69.48 degrees (morning sky) Next Phase: New Moon on Wednesday July 2, 2008 at 10:19pm Next Lunar eclipse: Total eclipse (100%) on Sunday Sept 27, 2015 at 10:10pm EDT On 6/27/2008 at 10:19:24pm the Moon will be 29.6º below the north-northeast horizon Mercury data: Rise: 4:44am Transit: 12:00pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Sets: 7:16pm Constellation: Taurus Phase: 27.98% illuminated Distance: 0.76602906 AU = 114,596,317 km = 71,206,851 miles = 6.38 light-minutes Magnitude: 0.9 Apparent size: 8.78 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 21.30 degrees (morning sky) Next maximum elongations... Morning: Tuesday, July 01, 2008 (21° 47' 03") Evening: Thursday, September 11, 2008 (26° 52' 17") On 6/27/2008 at 10:19:24pm Mercury will be 25.6º below the northwest horizon Venus data: Rise: 6:13am Transit 1:51pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Set: 9:29pm Constellation: Gemini Phase: 99.58% illuminated Distance: 1.72517266 AU = 258,082,157 km = 160,364,820 miles = 14.37 light-minutes Magnitude: -3.9 Bright, visible in the morning well before sunrise Apparent size: 9.67 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 5.24 degrees (evening sky) Next maximum elongations... Evening: Wednesday, January 14, 2009 (47° 07' 21") Morning: Friday, June 05, 2009 (45° 51' 07") On 6/27/2008 at 10:19:24pm Venus will be 8.6º below the west-northwest horizon Mars data: Rise: 10:07am Transit 5:01pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Set: 11:55pm Constellation: Leo Phase: 93.92% illuminated Distance: 2.0923487 AU = 313,010,910 km = 194,495,965 miles = 17.43 light-minutes Magnitude: 1.6 Apparent size: 4.47 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 51.11 degrees (evening sky) Next close approach of Mars is on Friday, Jan 29, 2010 On 6/27/2008 at 10:19:24pm Mars will be 16.6º 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: 9:38pm Transit 2:20am June 28 (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Set: 7:02am June 28 Constellation: Sagittarius Phase: 99.96% illuminated Distance: 4.1836396 AU = 625,863,576 km = 388,893,601 miles = 34.85 light-minutes Magnitude: -2.7 Apparent size: 47.12 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 167.88 degrees (morning sky) On 6/27/2008 at 10:19:24pm Jupiter will be 5.4º above the east-southeast horizon Jupiter satellite events tonight: Io goes into eclipse on Saturday June 28, 2008 at 3:46am Europa goes into eclipse on Saturday June 28, 2008 at 5:01am Next transit of the Great Red Spot: Friday June 27, 2008 11:51pm GRS longitude: 123.6 Saturn data: Rise: 10:40am Transit 5:27pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Set: 0:13am June 28 Constellation: Leo Phase: 99.79% illuminated Distance: 9.82093287 AU = 1,469,190,646 km = 912,912,755 miles = 1.36 light-hours Magnitude: 0.8 Apparent size: 16.92 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 57.50 degrees (evening sky) On 6/27/2008 at 10:19:24pm Saturn will be 20.2º above the west-southwest horizon Uranus data: Rise: 0:40am June 28 Transit 6:32am June 28 (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Set: 12:24pm June 28 Constellation: Aquarius Phase: 99.94% illuminated Distance: 19.82549646 AU = 2,965,852,056 km = 1,842,895,051 miles = 2.75 light-hours Magnitude: 5.8 Apparent size: 3.56 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 104.12 degrees (morning sky) On 6/27/2008 at 10:19:24pm Uranus will be 27.2º below the east-northeast horizon Neptune data: Rise: 11:28pm Transit: 4:44am June 28 (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Set: 9:59am June 28 Constellation: Capricornus Phase: 99.98% illuminated Distance: 29.33852094 AU = 4,388,980,261 km = 2,727,185,932 miles = 4.07 light-hours Magnitude: 7.9 Apparent size: 2.33 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 132.79 degrees (morning sky) On 6/27/2008 at 10:19:24pm Neptune will be 13.9º below the east horizon Pluto (Dwarf Planet aka Asteroid 134340) data: Rise: 7:54pm Transit 0:57am June 28 (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Set: 6:01am June 28 Constellation: Sagittarius Phase: 100.00% illuminated Distance: 30.47992852 AU = 4,559,732,405 km = 2,833,286,396 miles = 4.23 light-hours Magnitude: 14.1 Apparent size: 0.11 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 170.44 degrees (evening sky) On 6/27/2008 at 10:19:24pm Pluto will be 21.2º above the southeast horizon