Astronomical Observing at Fishcreek - Friday 8/8/2008

Sunset				 8:36pm
Civil twilight ends:		 9:04pm ( When the Sun is 6 degrees below the horizon )
Nautical twilight ends:		 9:40pm ( When the Sun is 12 degrees below the horizon )
Astronomical twilight ends:	10:21pm ( When the Sun is 18 degrees below the horizon )

The Moon is in the best phase for viewing detail on the terminator - the line separating lunar day from night.
It sets early enough to allow us to view deep sky objects without having to stay up too late.  Alas,  Saturn is
no longer visible to us since it's lost in the glare of the setting sun.  However, 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.  Jupiter, the King of the planets, is a beautiful sight and now rises early enough for everyone to see.
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 8/8/08 at 9:40:22pm (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
   Neptune
   Pluto
   
Below Horizon:
   Sun
   Mercury
   Venus
   Saturn
   Uranus  

Sun data:
     Rise 6:25am
     Transit: 1:31pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South)
     Sets 8:36pm
     Constellation: Cancer
     Distance: 1.01382339 AU = 151,665,820 km = 94,240,773 miles = 8.44 light-minutes
     Magnitude: -26.7
     Apparent size: 31.55 arcminutes in angular diameter
     Civil twilight ends at 9:04pm ( When the Sun is 6 degrees below the horizon )
     Nautical twilight ends at 9:40pm ( When the Sun is 12 degrees below the horizon )
     Astronomical twilight ends at 10:21pm ( 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 8/08/2008 at 9:40:22pm the Sun will be 12º below the west-northwest horizon

Moon data:
     Rise: 2:19pm
     Transit: 7:10pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South)
     Sets: 11:55pm
     Constellation: Libra
     Phase: 52.10% illuminated (waxing gibbous)
     7.64 days since last New Moon
     Distance: 0.00267857 AU = 400,709 km = 248,989 miles = 1.34 light-seconds
     Magnitude: -10.1
     Apparent size: 29.81 arcminutes in angular diameter
     Elongation from Sun: 92.26 degrees (evening sky)
     Next Phase: Full Moon on Saturday Aug 16, 2008 at 5:17pm
     Next Lunar eclipse: Total eclipse (100%) on Sunday Sept 27, 2015 at 10:10pm EDT
     On 8/08/2008 at 9:40:22pm the Moon will be 17º above the south-southwest horizon

Mercury data:
     Rise: 7:15am
     Transit: 2:13pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South)
     Sets: 9:11pm
     Constellation: Leo
     Phase: 93.54% illuminated
     Distance: 1.32960692 AU = 198,906,364 km = 123,594,686 miles = 11.07 light-minutes
     Magnitude: -1.0
     Apparent size: 5.06 arcseconds in angular diameter
     Elongation from Sun: 10.70 degrees (evening sky)
     Next maximum elongations...
          Evening: Thursday, September 11, 2008 (26° 52' 17")
          Morning: Wednesday, October 22, 2008 (18° 19' 05")
     On 8/08/2008 at 9:40:22pm Mercury will be 6.3º below the west-northwest horizon

Venus data:
     Rise: 7:49am
     Transit 2:37pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South)
     Set: 9:25pm
     Constellation: Leo
     Phase: 95.69% illuminated
     Distance: 1.62860479 AU = 243,635,809 km = 151,388,275 miles = 13.57 light-minutes
     Magnitude: -3.9 Bright, but lost in the glare of the setting sun
     Apparent size: 10.25 arcseconds in angular diameter
     Elongation from Sun: 16.76 degrees (evening sky)
     Next maximum elongations...
          Evening: Wednesday, January 14, 2009 (47° 07' 21")
          Morning: Friday, June 05, 2009 (45° 51' 07")
     On 8/08/2008 at 9:40:22pm Venus will be 3.8º below the west horizon

Mars data:
     Rise: 9:34am
     Transit 3:51pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South)
     Set: 10:08pm
     Constellation: Leo
     Phase: 96.43% illuminated
     Distance: 2.32587724 AU = 347,946,282 km = 216,203,799 miles = 19.37 light-minutes
     Magnitude: 1.7
     Apparent size: 4.02 arcseconds in angular diameter
     Elongation from Sun: 36.62 degrees (evening sky)
     Next close approach of Mars is on Friday, Jan 29, 2010
     On 8/08/2008 at 9:40:22pm Mars will be 4.2º 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: 6:35pm
     Transit 11:14pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South)
     Set: 3:53am Aug 9
     Constellation: Sagittarius
     Phase: 99.71% illuminated
     Distance: 4.28615335 AU = 641,199,415 km = 398,422,850 miles = 35.7 light-minutes
     Magnitude: -2.6
     Apparent size: 46.00 arcseconds in angular diameter
     Elongation from Sun: 147.07 degrees (evening sky)
     On 8/08/2008 at 9:40:22pm Jupiter will be 22.2º above the southeast horizon
     Next transit of the Great Red Spot: Saturday August 9, 2008 at 4:24am
     GRS longitude: 124.5
     Jupiter satellite events: None tonight

Saturn data:
     Rise: 8:18am
     Transit 2:58pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South)
     Set: 9:39pm
     Constellation: Leo
     Phase: 99.96% illuminated
     Distance: 10.25896488 AU = 1,534,719,302 km = 953,630,374 miles = 1.42 light-hours
     Magnitude: 0.8
     Apparent size: 16.20 arcseconds in angular diameter
     Elongation from Sun: 21.90 degrees (evening sky)
     On 8/08/2008 at 9:40:22pm Saturn will be 1.4º below the west horizon

Uranus data:
     Rise: 9:53pm
     Transit 3:44am Aug 9 (Time of highest position in the sky, due South)
     Set: 9:36am Aug 9
     Constellation: Aquarius
     Phase: 99.98% illuminated
     Distance: 19.26016336 AU = 2,881,279,428 km = 1,790,344,056 miles = 2.67 light-hours
     Magnitude: 5.7
     Apparent size: 3.66 arcseconds in angular diameter
     Elongation from Sun: 144.89 degrees (morning sky)
     On 8/08/2008 at 9:40:22pm Uranus will be 3.6º below the east horizon

Neptune data:
     Rise: 8:40pm
     Transit: 1:55am Aug 9 (Time of highest position in the sky, due South)
     Set: 7:09am Aug 9
     Constellation: Capricornus
     Phase: 100.00% illuminated
     Distance: 29.02931989 AU = 4,342,724,443 km = 2,698,443,898 miles = 4.03 light-hours
     Magnitude: 7.8
     Apparent size: 2.35 arcseconds in angular diameter
     Elongation from Sun: 173.83 degrees (morning sky)
     On 8/08/2008 at 9:40:22pm Neptune will be 9.2º above the east-southeast horizon

Pluto (Dwarf Planet aka Asteroid 134340) data:
     Rise: 5:05pm
     Transit 10:08pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South)
     Set: 3:11am Aug 9
     Constellation: Sagittarius
     Phase: 99.99% illuminated
     Distance: 30.82184292 AU = 4,610,882,071 km = 2,865,069,326 miles = 4.28 light-hours
     Magnitude: 14.1
     Apparent size: 0.11 arcseconds in angular diameter
     Elongation from Sun: 131.57 degrees (evening sky)
     On 8/08/2008 at 9:40:22pm Pluto will be 31.3º above the south-southeast horizon