Astronomical Observing at Fishcreek - Friday 8/1/2008 Sunset 8:45pm Civil twilight ends: 9:13pm ( When the Sun is 6 degrees below the horizon ) Nautical twilight ends: 9:51pm ( When the Sun is 12 degrees below the horizon ) Astronomical twilight ends: 10:33pm ( When the Sun is 18 degrees below the horizon ) The Moon is nowhere to be seen tonight - a tiny crescent Moon sets at 9:02pm this evening and rises after the Sun tomorrow. No Moon means EVERYTHING will be available to us - 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! Tonight will probably be the very last chance to see Saturn until next year since it will soon be lost in the glare of the Sun due to the Earth's rotation around the Sun. 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. 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 8/1/08 at 9:50:44pm (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 Neptune Pluto Below Horizon: Sun Moon Mercury Venus Uranus Sun data: Rise 6:18am Transit: 1:32pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Sets 8:45pm Constellation: Cancer Distance: 1.01487198 AU = 151,822,687 km = 94,338,245 miles = 8.45 light-minutes Magnitude: -26.7 Apparent size: 31.52 arcminutes in angular diameter Civil twilight ends at 9:13pm ( When the Sun is 6 degrees below the horizon ) Nautical twilight ends at 9:51pm ( When the Sun is 12 degrees below the horizon ) Astronomical twilight ends at 10:33pm ( 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 8/01/2008 at 9:50:44pm the Sun will be 12º below the west-northwest horizon Moon data: Rise: 6:22am Transit: 1:49pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Sets: 9:02pm Constellation: Cancer Phase: 0.53% illuminated (waxing crescent) 0.65 days since last New Moon Distance: 0.00248292 AU = 371,439 km = 230,801 miles = 1.24 light-seconds Magnitude: -4.5 Apparent size: 32.16 arcminutes in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 8.30 degrees (evening sky) Next Phase: First Quarter on Friday Aug 8, 2008 at 4:20pm Next Lunar eclipse: Total eclipse (100%) on Sunday Sept 27, 2015 at 10:10pm EDT On 8/01/2008 at 9:50:44pm the Moon will be 9.4º below the west-northwest horizon Mercury data: Rise: 6:30am Transit: 1:47pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Sets: 9:02pm Constellation: Cancer Phase: 98.92% illuminated Distance: 1.34801911 AU = 201,660,788 km = 125,306,206 miles = 11.23 light-minutes Magnitude: -1.7 Apparent size: 4.99 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 4.01 degrees (evening sky) Next maximum elongations... Evening: Thursday, September 11, 2008 (26° 52' 17") Morning: Wednesday, October 22, 2008 (18° 19' 05") On 8/01/2008 at 9:50:44pm Mercury will be 8.9º below the west-northwest horizon Venus data: Rise: 7:32am Transit 2:32pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Set: 9:31pm Constellation: Leo Phase: 96.61% illuminated Distance: 1.65131921 AU = 247,033,837 km = 153,499,712 miles = 13.75 light-minutes Magnitude: -3.9 Bright, visible in the morning well before sunrise Apparent size: 10.10 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 14.87 degrees (evening sky) Next maximum elongations... Evening: Wednesday, January 14, 2009 (47° 07' 21") Morning: Friday, June 05, 2009 (45° 51' 07") On 8/01/2008 at 9:50:44pm Venus will be 4.5º below the west-northwest horizon Mars data: Rise: 9:39am Transit 4:03pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Set: 10:26pm Constellation: Leo Phase: 96.03% illuminated Distance: 2.29369096 AU = 343,131,283 km = 213,211,897 miles = 19.11 light-minutes Magnitude: 1.7 Apparent size: 4.08 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 38.95 degrees (evening sky) Next close approach of Mars is on Friday, Jan 29, 2010 On 8/01/2008 at 9:50:44pm Mars will be 5.6º 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: 7:05pm Transit 11:44pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Set: 4:24am Aug 2 Constellation: Sagittarius Phase: 99.82% illuminated Distance: 4.23496992 AU = 633,542,482 km = 393,665,052 miles = 35.27 light-minutes Magnitude: -2.7 Apparent size: 46.55 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 154.44 degrees (evening sky) On 8/01/2008 at 9:50:44pm Jupiter will be 20.7º above the southeast horizon Next transit of the Great Red Spot: Saturday August 2, 2008 at 3:38am GRS longitude: 124.3 Jupiter satellite events: None tonight Saturn data: Rise: 8:41am Transit 3:23pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Set: 10:04pm Constellation: Leo Phase: 99.94% illuminated Distance: 10.21012804 AU = 1,527,413,414 km = 949,090,706 miles = 1.42 light-hours Magnitude: 0.8 Apparent size: 16.28 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 27.76 degrees (evening sky) On 8/01/2008 at 9:50:44pm Saturn will be 1.4º above the west horizon Uranus data: Rise: 10:21pm Transit 4:13am Aug 2 (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Set: 10:04am Aug 2 Constellation: Aquarius Phase: 99.97% illuminated Distance: 19.33232333 AU = 2,892,074,405 km = 1,797,051,744 miles = 2.68 light-hours Magnitude: 5.8 Apparent size: 3.65 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 138.00 degrees (morning sky) On 8/01/2008 at 9:50:44pm Uranus will be 6.9º below the east-northeast horizon Neptune data: Rise: 9:08pm Transit: 2:23am Aug 2 (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Set: 7:38am Aug 2 Constellation: Capricornus Phase: 100.00% illuminated Distance: 29.04810016 AU = 4,345,533,932 km = 2,700,189,634 miles = 4.03 light-hours Magnitude: 7.8 Apparent size: 2.35 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 166.95 degrees (morning sky) On 8/01/2008 at 9:50:44pm Neptune will be 6.2º above the east-southeast horizon Pluto (Dwarf Planet aka Asteroid 134340) data: Rise: 5:33pm Transit 10:36pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Set: 3:39am Aug 2 Constellation: Sagittarius Phase: 99.99% illuminated Distance: 30.73524839 AU = 4,597,927,714 km = 2,857,019,861 miles = 4.27 light-hours Magnitude: 14.1 Apparent size: 0.11 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 138.30 degrees (evening sky) On 8/01/2008 at 9:50:44pm Pluto will be 30.7º above the south-southeast horizon