Astronomical Observing at Fishcreek - Friday 7/04/2008 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 7/4/08 at 10:17:31pm (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 (sets at 10:35pm) Mars Jupiter Saturn Pluto Below Horizon: Sun Mercury Venus Uranus Neptune Sun data: Rise 5:55am Transit: 1:30pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Sets 9:05pm Constellation: Gemini Distance: 1.01676058 AU = 152,105,218 km = 94,513,802 miles = 8.47 light-minutes Magnitude: -26.7 Apparent size: 31.46 arcminutes in angular diameter Civil twilight ends at 9:35pm ( When the Sun is 6 degrees below the horizon ) Nautical twilight ends at 10:18pm ( When the Sun is 12 degrees below the horizon ) Astronomical twilight ends at 11:08pm ( 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 7/4/2008 at 10:17:31pm the Sun will be 12º below the northwest horizon Moon data: Rise: 7:31am Transit: 3:10pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Sets: 10:35pm Constellation: Cancer Phase: 5.44% illuminated (waxing crescent) 2.00 days since last New Moon Distance: 0.00245913 AU = 367,880 km = 228,590 miles = 1.23 light-seconds Magnitude: -6.4 Apparent size: 32.47 arcminutes in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 26.90 degrees (evening sky) Next Phase: First Quarter Moon on Thursday July 10, 2008 at 0:35am Next Lunar eclipse: Total eclipse (100%) on Sunday Sept 27, 2015 at 10:10pm EDT On 7/4/2008 at 10:17:31pm the Moon will be 1.7º above the west horizon Mercury data: Rise: 4:34am Transit: 11:58am (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Sets: 7:22pm Constellation: Taurus Phase: 45.21% illuminated Distance: 0.91101763 AU = 136,286,298 km = 84,684,381 miles = 7.59 light-minutes Magnitude: 0.1 Apparent size: 7.38 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 21.39 degrees (morning sky) Next maximum elongations... Evening: Thursday, September 11, 2008 (26° 52' 17") Morning: Wednesday, October 22, 2008 (18° 19' 05") On 7/4/2008 at 10:17:31pm Mercury will be 23.8º below the northwest horizon Venus data: Rise: 6:26am Transit 2:01pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Set: 9:35pm Constellation: Gemini Phase: 99.21% illuminated Distance: 1.71598499 AU = 256,707,701 km = 159,510,772 miles = 14.29 light-minutes Magnitude: -3.9 Bright, visible in the morning well before sunrise Apparent size: 9.72 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 7.18 degrees (evening sky) Next maximum elongations... Evening: Wednesday, January 14, 2009 (47° 07' 21") Morning: Friday, June 05, 2009 (45° 51' 07") On 7/4/2008 at 10:17:31pm Venus will be 7.6º below the west-northwest horizon Mars data: Rise: 10:01am Transit 4:50pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Set: 11:37pm Constellation: Leo Phase: 94.35% illuminated Distance: 2.13791767 AU = 319,827,931 km = 198,731,865 miles = 17.81 light-minutes Magnitude: 1.7 Apparent size: 4.38 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 48.60 degrees (evening sky) Next close approach of Mars is on Friday, Jan 29, 2010 On 7/4/2008 at 10:17:31pm Mars will be 13.7º 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: 9:07pm Transit 1:49am July 5 (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Set: 6:31am July 5 Constellation: Sagittarius Phase: 99.99% illuminated Distance: 4.16527795 AU = 623,116,712 km = 387,186,779 miles = 34.69 light-minutes Magnitude: -2.7 Apparent size: 47.33 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 175.44 degrees (morning sky) On 7/4/2008 at 10:17:31pm Jupiter will be 9.6º above the east-southeast horizon Jupiter satellite events tonight: None Next transit of the Great Red Spot: Saturday July 5, 2008 0:36am GRS longitude: 123.7 Saturn data: Rise: 10:16am Transit 5:02pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Set: 11:47pm Constellation: Leo Phase: 99.82% illuminated Distance: 9.91568556 AU = 1,483,365,446 km = 921,720,567 miles = 1.38 light-hours Magnitude: 0.8 Apparent size: 16.76 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 51.46 degrees (evening sky) On 7/4/2008 at 10:17:31pm Saturn will be 15.6º above the west horizon Uranus data: Rise: 0:12am July 5 Transit 6:04am July 5 (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Set: 11:57am July 5 Constellation: Aquarius Phase: 99.94% illuminated Distance: 19.71388423 AU = 2,949,155,104 km = 1,832,520,046 miles = 2.74 light-hours Magnitude: 5.8 Apparent size: 3.58 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 110.82 degrees (morning sky) On 7/4/2008 at 10:17:31pm Uranus will be 22.6º below the east-northeast horizon Neptune data: Rise: 11:00pm Transit: 4:16am July 5 (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Set: 9:31am July 5 Constellation: Capricornus Phase: 99.99% illuminated Distance: 29.25684607 AU = 4,376,761,875 km = 2,719,593,778 miles = 4.06 light-hours Magnitude: 7.8 Apparent size: 2.33 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 139.59 degrees (morning sky) On 7/4/2008 at 10:17:31pm Neptune will be 9º below the east horizon Pluto (Dwarf Planet aka Asteroid 134340) data: Rise: 7:25pm Transit 0:29am July 5 (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Set: 5:32am July 5 Constellation: Sagittarius Phase: 100.00% illuminated Distance: 30.50469005 AU = 4,563,436,678 km = 2,835,588,125 miles = 4.23 light-hours Magnitude: 14.1 Apparent size: 0.11 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 164.66 degrees (evening sky) On 7/4/2008 at 10:17:31pm Pluto will be 24.2º above the southeast horizon