Astronomical Observing at Fishcreek - Friday 7/04/2008 Tonight's event will feature a one day past First Quarter Moon which doesn't set until 1:25am Saturday morning. This is a great opportunity to view detail near the terminator of our closest celestial neighbor . We'll be able to see the beautiful planets Saturn and 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, and galaxies galore. 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 clears the trees to the east of our observing field at a conveniently early hour now (see the Outer Solar System to see why this is so). 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 7/11/08 at 10:13:29pm (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 Mars Jupiter Saturn Pluto Below Horizon: Sun Mercury Venus Uranus Neptune Sun data: Rise 5:59am Transit: 1:31pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Sets 9:02pm Constellation: Gemini Distance: 1.01659154 AU = 152,079,930 km = 94,498,089 miles = 8.47 light-minutes Magnitude: -26.7 Apparent size: 31.47 arcminutes in angular diameter Civil twilight ends at 9:32pm ( When the Sun is 6 degrees below the horizon ) Nautical twilight ends at 10:13pm ( When the Sun is 12 degrees below the horizon ) Astronomical twilight ends at 11:02pm ( 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 7/11/2008 at 10:13:29pm the Sun will be 12º below the west-northwest horizon Moon data: Rise: 3:28pm Transit: 8:30pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Sets: 1:25am July 12 Constellation: Libra Phase: 68.09% illuminated (waning gibbous) 9.00 days since last New Moon Distance: 0.00267741 AU = 400,535 km = 248,881 miles = 1.34 light-seconds Magnitude: -10.7 Apparent size: 29.82 arcminutes in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 111.08 degrees (evening sky) Next Phase: Full Moon on Friday July 18, 2008 at 3:59am Next Lunar eclipse: Total eclipse (100%) on Sunday Sept 27, 2015 at 10:10pm EDT On 7/11/2008 at 10:13:29pm the Moon will be 23.6º above the south-southwest horizon Mercury data: Rise: 4:39am Transit: 12:11pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Sets: 7:44pm Constellation: Gemini Phase: 65.69% illuminated Distance: 1.07068613 AU = 160,172,365 km = 99,526,495 miles = 8.92 light-minutes Magnitude: -0.6 Apparent size: 6.28 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 18.17 degrees (morning sky) Next maximum elongations... Evening: Thursday, September 11, 2008 (26° 52' 17") Morning: Wednesday, October 22, 2008 (18° 19' 05") On 7/11/2008 at 10:13:29pm Mercury will be 20.7º below the northwest horizon Venus data: Rise: 6:41am Transit 2:10pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Set: 9:38pm Constellation: Cancer Phase: 98.73% illuminated Distance: 1.70389035 AU = 254,898,368 km = 158,386,505 miles = 14.19 light-minutes Magnitude: -3.9 Bright, visible in the morning well before sunrise Apparent size: 9.79 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 9.12 degrees (evening sky) Next maximum elongations... Evening: Wednesday, January 14, 2009 (47° 07' 21") Morning: Friday, June 05, 2009 (45° 51' 07") On 7/11/2008 at 10:13:29pm Venus will be 6.7º below the west-northwest horizon Mars data: Rise: 9:55am Transit 4:38pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Set: 11:20pm Constellation: Leo Phase: 94.79% illuminated Distance: 2.18083885 AU = 326,248,849 km = 202,721,639 miles = 18.17 light-minutes Magnitude: 1.7 Apparent size: 4.29 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 46.13 degrees (evening sky) Next close approach of Mars is on Friday, Jan 29, 2010 On 7/11/2008 at 10:13:29pm Mars will be 11.2º 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: 8:37pm Transit 1:18am July 12 (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Set: 5:59am July 12 Constellation: Sagittarius Phase: 100.00% illuminated Distance: 4.16140626 AU = 622,537,515 km = 386,826,883 miles = 34.66 light-minutes Magnitude: -2.7 Apparent size: 47.37 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 176.98 degrees (evening sky) On 7/11/2008 at 10:13:29pm Jupiter will be 13.2º above the southeast horizon Jupiter satellite events tonight: None tonight Next transit of the Great Red Spot: Saturday July 12, 2008 at 1:21am GRS longitude: 123.9 Saturn data: Rise: 9:52am Transit 4:37pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Set: 11:21pm Constellation: Leo Phase: 99.85% illuminated Distance: 10.00277035 AU = 1,496,393,145 km = 929,815,604 miles = 1.39 light-hours Magnitude: 0.8 Apparent size: 16.61 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 45.48 degrees (evening sky) On 7/11/2008 at 10:13:29pm Saturn will be 11.5º above the west horizon Uranus data: Rise: 11:44pm Transit 5:37am July 12 (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Set: 11:29am July 12 Constellation: Aquarius Phase: 99.95% illuminated Distance: 19.60729874 AU = 2,933,210,141 km = 1,822,612,305 miles = 2.72 light-hours Magnitude: 5.8 Apparent size: 3.59 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 117.55 degrees (morning sky) On 7/11/2008 at 10:13:29pm Uranus will be 18.3º below the east-northeast horizon Neptune data: Rise: 10:32pm Transit: 3:48am July 12 (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Set: 9:03am July 12 Constellation: Capricornus Phase: 99.99% illuminated Distance: 29.18605695 AU = 4,366,171,974 km = 2,713,013,519 miles = 4.05 light-hours Magnitude: 7.8 Apparent size: 2.34 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 146.41 degrees (morning sky) On 7/11/2008 at 10:13:29pm Neptune will be 4.6º below the east horizon Pluto (Dwarf Planet aka Asteroid 134340) data: Rise: 6:57pm Transit 0:01am July 12 (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Set: 5:04am July 12 Constellation: Sagittarius Phase: 100.00% illuminated Distance: 30.54326757 AU = 4,569,207,792 km = 2,839,174,129 miles = 4.24 light-hours Magnitude: 14.1 Apparent size: 0.11 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 158.26 degrees (evening sky) On 7/11/2008 at 10:13:29pm Pluto will be 26.6º above the southeast horizon