Astronomical Observing at Fishcreek - Friday 8/22/2008 Sunset 8:17pm Civil twilight ends: 8:42pm ( When the Sun is 6 degrees below the horizon ) Nautical twilight ends: 9:17pm ( When the Sun is 12 degrees below the horizon ) Astronomical twilight ends: 9:54pm ( When the Sun is 18 degrees below the horizon ) Tonight's event will feature a waning gibbous (nearly Third Quarter) Moon rising before midnight. Until then, we'll be able to see 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. 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. As night falls, Jupiter's moon Io will be transiting the planet and Ganymede will be in eclipse behind Jupiter. If we're lucky, we should be able to see Ganamede suddenly appear at 11:56pm. See the details below under Jupiter. 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 8/22/08 at 9:17:20pm (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 (sets at 9:33pm) Jupiter Uranus Neptune Pluto Below Horizon: Sun Moon Mercury Venus Saturn Sun data: Rise 6:39am Transit: 1:28pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Sets 8:16pm Constellation: Leo Distance: 1.01121417 AU = 151,275,487 km = 93,998,231 miles = 8.42 light-minutes Magnitude: -26.7 Apparent size: 31.63 arcminutes in angular diameter Civil twilight ends at 8:42pm ( When the Sun is 6 degrees below the horizon ) Nautical twilight ends at 9:17pm ( When the Sun is 12 degrees below the horizon ) Astronomical twilight ends at 9:54pm ( 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 Next TOTAL Solar Eclipse: Monday April 8, 2024 at 3:15pm On 8/22/2008 at 9:17:20pm the Sun will be 12º below the west-northwest horizon Moon data: Rise: 10:50pm Transit: 6:35am Aug 23 (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Sets: 2:32pm Aug 23 Constellation: Aries Phase: 60.58% illuminated (waning gibbous) 21.63 days since last New Moon Distance: 0.00249431 AU = 373,144 km = 231,861 miles = 1.25 light-seconds Magnitude: -10.6 Apparent size: 32.01 arcminutes in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 102.08 degrees (morning sky) Next Phase: Third Quarter Moon on Saturday Aug 23, 2008 at 7:50pm Next Lunar eclipse: Total eclipse (100%) on Sunday Sept 27, 2015 at 10:10pm EDT On 8/22/2008 at 9:17:20pm the Moon will be 14.7º below the north-northeast horizon Mercury data: Rise: 8:25am Transit: 2:46pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Sets: 9:05pm Constellation: Leo Phase: 79.71% illuminated Distance: 1.21108813 AU = 181,176,206 km = 112,577,677 miles = 10.09 light-minutes Magnitude: -0.2 Apparent size: 5.55 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 20.88 degrees (evening sky) Next maximum elongations... Evening: Thursday, September 11, 2008 (26° 52' 17") Morning: Wednesday, October 22, 2008 (18° 19' 05") On 8/22/2008 at 9:17:20pm Mercury will be 3.3º below the west horizon Venus data: Rise: 8:22am Transit 2:46pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Set: 9:10pm Constellation: Leo Phase: 93.58% illuminated Distance: 1.57617594 AU = 235,792,564 km = 146,514,708 miles = 13.13 light-minutes Magnitude: -3.9 Bright, but lost in the glare of the setting sun Apparent size: 10.59 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 20.47 degrees (evening sky) Next maximum elongations... Evening: Wednesday, January 14, 2009 (47° 07' 21") Morning: Friday, June 05, 2009 (45° 51' 07") On 8/22/2008 at 9:17:20pm Venus will be 2.5º below the west horizon Mars data: Rise: 9:23am Transit 3:28pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Set: 9:33pm Constellation: Virgo Phase: 97.17% illuminated Distance: 2.38201132 AU = 356,343,821 km = 221,421,788 miles = 19.84 light-minutes Magnitude: 1.7 Apparent size: 3.93 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 32.03 degrees (evening sky) Next close approach of Mars is on Friday, Jan 29, 2010 On 8/22/2008 at 9:17:20pm Mars will be 1.8º above the west-southwest 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: 5:36pm Transit 10:15pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Set: 2:53am Aug 23 Constellation: Sagittarius Phase: 99.48% illuminated Distance: 4.42246541 AU = 661,591,409 km = 411,093,848 miles = 36.84 light-minutes Magnitude: -2.6 Apparent size: 45.33 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 132.65 degrees (evening sky) On 8/22/2008 at 9:17:20pm Jupiter will be 24.3º above the south-southeast horizon Next transit of the Great Red Spot: Saturday August 23, 2008 at 5:57am GRS longitude: 124.8 Jupiter satellite events: Io shadow transit starts at 9:52pm Io transit ends at 11:09 Ganamede comes out of eclipse at 11:56pm Io shadow transit ends at 12:09am on 8/23/08 Saturn data: Rise: 7:32am Transit 2:10pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Set: 8:48pm Constellation: Leo Phase: 99.99% illuminated Distance: 10.32320758 AU = 1,544,329,872 km = 959,602,106 miles = 1.43 light-hours Magnitude: 0.8 Apparent size: 16.10 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 10.25 degrees (evening sky) On 8/22/2008 at 9:17:20pm Saturn will be 6.5º below the west horizon Uranus data: Rise: 8:57pm Transit 2:47am Aug 23 (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Set: 8:38am Aug 23 Constellation: Aquarius Phase: 99.99% illuminated Distance: 19.15205441 AU = 2,865,106,559 km = 1,780,294,701 miles = 2.66 light-hours Magnitude: 5.7 Apparent size: 3.68 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 158.80 degrees (morning sky) On 8/22/2008 at 9:17:20pm Uranus will be 2.6º above the east horizon Neptune data: Rise: 7:44pm Transit: 12:58am Aug 23 (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Set: 6:12am Aug 23 Constellation: Capricornus Phase: 100.00% illuminated Distance: 29.0346649 AU = 4,343,524,045 km = 2,698,940,748 miles = 4.03 light-hours Magnitude: 7.8 Apparent size: 2.35 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 172.33 degrees (evening sky) On 8/22/2008 at 9:17:20pm Neptune will be 14.5º above the east-southeast horizon Pluto (Dwarf Planet aka Asteroid 134340) data: Rise: 4:10pm Transit 9:12pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Set: 2:15am Aug 23 Constellation: Sagittarius Phase: 99.98% illuminated Distance: 31.02183433 AU = 4,640,800,361 km = 2,883,659,689 miles = 4.31 light-hours Magnitude: 14.1 Apparent size: 0.11 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 118.09 degrees (evening sky) On 8/22/2008 at 9:17:20pm Pluto will be 31.6º above the south horizon