Astronomical Observing at Fishcreek - Friday 7/25/2008 Sunset 8:52pm Civil twilight ends: 9:21pm ( When the Sun is 6 degrees below the horizon ) Nautical twilight ends: 10:00pm ( When the Sun is 12 degrees below the horizon ) Astronomical twilight ends: 10:44pm ( When the Sun is 18 degrees below the horizon ) Tonight's event will feature a Third Quarter Moon rising after midnight. Until then, 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. 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, the King of the planets, is also a beautiful sight and now rises early enough for everyone to see. This is an ideal time to view Jupiter. It reached opposition on July 9th and is still nearly as close to us as it gets. With a high-power view through the telescopes, details in the cloud bands is possible, and the four Galilean moons actually appear as disks instead of just point light sources. Saturn won't be visible to us much longer...the Earth orbiting around the Sun on a more inside track is causing it to set earlier each night. See the Outer Solar System to see why this is so.ystem 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 7/25/08 at 9:59:48pm (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 Saturn Pluto Below Horizon: Sun Moon (rises at 12:13am July 26) Mercury Venus Uranus Neptune Astronomical twilight: 10:44:10pm Sun data: Rise 6:11am Transit: 1:32pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Sets 8:52pm Constellation: Cancer Distance: 1.0156532 AU = 151,939,556 km = 94,410,864 miles = 8.46 light-minutes Magnitude: -26.7 Apparent size: 31.49 arcminutes in angular diameter Civil twilight ends at 9:21pm ( When the Sun is 6 degrees below the horizon ) Nautical twilight ends at 10:00pm ( When the Sun is 12 degrees below the horizon ) Astronomical twilight ends at 10:44pm ( 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 7/25/2008 at 9:59:48pm the Sun will be 12º below the west-northwest horizon Moon data: Rise: 0:13am July 26 Transit: 7:43am July 26 (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Sets: 3:27pm July 26 Constellation: Aries Phase: 46.51% illuminated (waning crescent) 22.99 days since last New Moon Distance: 0.00249965 AU = 373,943 km = 232,357 miles = 1.25 light-seconds Magnitude: -10.0 Apparent size: 31.94 arcminutes in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 85.86 degrees (morning sky) Next Phase: New Moon on day Aug 1, 2008 at 6:13am Next Lunar eclipse: Total eclipse (100%) on Sunday Sept 27, 2015 at 10:10pm EDT On 7/25/2008 at 9:59:48pm the Moon will be 20.7º below the north-northeast horizon Mercury data: Rise: 5:42am Transit: 1:13pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Sets: 8:43pm Constellation: Cancer Phase: 98.32% illuminated Distance: 1.31548134 AU = 196,793,207 km = 122,281,631 miles = 10.96 light-minutes Magnitude: -1.8 Apparent size: 5.11 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 4.55 degrees (morning sky) Next maximum elongations... Evening: Thursday, September 11, 2008 (26° 52' 17") Morning: Wednesday, October 22, 2008 (18° 19' 05") On 7/25/2008 at 9:59:48pm Mercury will be 12.5º below the west-northwest horizon Venus data: Rise: 7:14am Transit 2:25pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Set: 9:36pm Constellation: Cancer Phase: 97.42% illuminated Distance: 1.6714711 AU = 250,048,517 km = 155,372,947 miles = 13.92 light-minutes Magnitude: -3.9 Bright, visible in the morning well before sunrise Apparent size: 9.98 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 12.97 degrees (evening sky) Next maximum elongations... Evening: Wednesday, January 14, 2009 (47° 07' 21") Morning: Friday, June 05, 2009 (45° 51' 07") On 7/25/2008 at 9:59:48pm Venus will be 5.1º below the west-northwest horizon Mars data: Rise: 9:44am Transit 4:14pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Set: 10:44pm Constellation: Leo Phase: 95.63% illuminated Distance: 2.25872776 AU = 337,900,864 km = 209,961,865 miles = 18.81 light-minutes Magnitude: 1.7 Apparent size: 4.14 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 41.31 degrees (evening sky) Next close approach of Mars is on Friday, Jan 29, 2010 On 7/25/2008 at 9:59:48pm Mars will be 7.2º 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: 7:35pm Transit 0:15am July 26 (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Set: 4:55am July 26 Constellation: Sagittarius Phase: 99.91% illuminated Distance: 4.19664318 AU = 627,808,884 km = 390,102,360 miles = 34.96 light-minutes Magnitude: -2.7 Apparent size: 46.98 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 161.91 degrees (evening sky) On 7/25/2008 at 9:59:48pm Jupiter will be 18.7º above the southeast horizon Next transit of the Great Red Spot: Saturday July 26, 2008 at 2:52am GRS longitude: 124.2 Jupiter satellite events: None tonight Saturn data: Rise: 9:05am Transit 3:47pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Set: 10:30pm Constellation: Leo Phase: 99.91% illuminated Distance: 10.15069436 AU = 1,518,522,262 km = 943,566,000 miles = 1.41 light-hours Magnitude: 0.8 Apparent size: 16.37 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 33.63 degrees (evening sky) On 7/25/2008 at 9:59:48pm Saturn will be 4.5º above the west horizon Uranus data: Rise: 10:49pm Transit 4:41am July 26 (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Set: 10:33am July 26 Constellation: Aquarius Phase: 99.96% illuminated Distance: 19.41514441 AU = 2,904,464,263 km = 1,804,750,444 miles = 2.70 light-hours Magnitude: 5.8 Apparent size: 3.63 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 131.14 degrees (morning sky) On 7/25/2008 at 9:59:48pm Uranus will be 10.5º below the east-northeast horizon Neptune data: Rise: 9:36pm Transit: 2:51am July 26 (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Set: 8:06am July 26 Constellation: Capricornus Phase: 100.00% illuminated Distance: 29.08090788 AU = 4,350,441,897 km = 2,703,239,302 miles = 4.04 light-hours Magnitude: 7.8 Apparent size: 2.35 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 160.08 degrees (morning sky) On 7/25/2008 at 9:59:48pm Neptune will be 2.9º above the east horizon Pluto (Dwarf Planet aka Asteroid 134340) data: Rise: 6:01pm Transit 11:04pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Set: 4:07am July 26 Constellation: Sagittarius Phase: 99.99% illuminated Distance: 30.65930145 AU = 4,586,566,213 km = 2,849,960,152 miles = 4.26 light-hours Magnitude: 14.1 Apparent size: 0.11 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 145.01 degrees (evening sky) On 7/25/2008 at 9:59:48pm Pluto will be 29.8º above the south-southeast horizon