Astronomical Observing at Fishcreek - Friday 03/20/2009 Sunset 7:41pm Civil twilight ends: 8:06pm - when the Sun is 6 degrees below the horizon Nautical twilight ends: 8:38pm - when the Sun is 12 degrees below the horizon Astronomical twilight ends: 9:11pm - when the Sun is 18 degrees below the horizon Tonight, the Moon won't rise until nearly daybreak so we'll have a wonderful dark sky the entire night. We'll be able to see Saturn, 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, the ringed planet, is a beautiful sight. With a high-power view through the telescopes, the cloud bands are now visible since the rings are nearly edge-on this entire year. We hope to see you here for a night under the stars - now in our fourteenth year! Above Horizon: Object Mag Const Rise Set Venus -4.2 Psc 07:12 20:49 Saturn 0.5 Leo 18:17 07:17 Below Horizon: (new) Object Mag Const Rise Set Sun -26.7 Psc 07:25 19:41 Mercury -1.0 Aqr 07:14 18:47 Mars 1.2 Aqr 06:32 17:26 Jupiter -2.0 Cap 05:44 15:57 Uranus 5.9 Aqr 07:14 19:01 Neptune 8.0 Cap 06:05 16:40 Pluto 14.2 Sgr 02:41 12:43 Luna -8.9 Sgr 04:18 13:43 The following Sun, Moon and planet detail was calculated as it will be on Friday 3/20/09 at 8:37:52pm (nautical twilight). Source: Guide8 software available from www.projectpluto.com All times are shown in EDT (Eastern Daylight Time) as seen from Stow, Ohio. Longitude: W 81° 25' 37.4" Latitude: N 41° 11' 11.2" Altitude: 350m Sun data: Rise 7:25am Transit: 1:33pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Sets 7:41pm Constellation: Pisces Distance: 0.99612942 AU = 149,018,840 km = 92,596,015 miles = 8.3 light-minutes Magnitude: -26.7 Apparent size: 32.11 arcminutes in angular diameter Civil twilight ends at 8:06pm ( When the Sun is 6 degrees below the horizon ) Nautical twilight ends at 8:38pm ( When the Sun is 12 degrees below the horizon ) Astronomical twilight ends at 9:11pm ( When the Sun is 18 degrees below the horizon ) Vernal Equinox: Friday Mar 20, 2009 at 7:44am (when Spring 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 3/20/2009 at 8:37:52pm the Sun will be 12º below the west horizon Moon data: Rise: 4:18am Transit: 8:58am (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Sets: 1:43pm Constellation: Sagittarius Phase: 29.32% illuminated (waning crescent) 23.96 days since last New Moon Distance: 0.00273301 AU = 408,852 km = 254,049 miles = 1.37 light-seconds Magnitude: -8.9 Apparent size: 29.22 arcminutes in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 65.43 degrees (morning sky) Next Phase: New Moon on Thursday Mar 26, 2009 at 12:06pm Next Lunar eclipse: Total eclipse (100%) on Sunday Sept 27, 2015 at 10:10pm EDT On 3/20/2009 at 8:37:52pm the Moon will be 69.3º below the northwest horizon Mercury data: Rise: 7:14am Transit: 1:00pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Sets: 6:47pm Constellation: Aquarius Phase: 95.30% illuminated Distance: 1.34462501 AU = 201,153,038 km = 124,990,705 miles = 11.2 light-minutes Magnitude: -1.0 Apparent size: 5.00 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 9.81 degrees (morning sky) Next maximum elongations... Evening: Sunday, April 26, 2009 (20° 25' 12") Morning: Saturday, June 13, 2009 (23° 27' 17") On 3/20/2009 at 8:37:52pm Mercury will be 21.7º below the west horizon Venus data: Rise: 7:12am Transit 2:00pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Set: 8:49pm Constellation: Pisces Phase: 2.74% illuminated Distance: 0.28762244 AU = 43,027,704 km = 26,736,176 miles = 2.4 light-minutes Magnitude: -4.2 Extremely bright, but somewhat difficult with the glare of the setting sun Apparent size: 58.01 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 13.64 degrees (evening sky) Next maximum elongations... Morning: Friday, June 05, 2009 (45° 51' 07") Evening: Friday, August 20, 2010 (45° 57' 59") On 3/20/2009 at 8:37:52pm Venus will be 0.9º above the west horizon Mars data: Rise: 6:32am Transit 11:58am (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Set: 5:26pm Constellation: Aquarius Phase: 97.47% illuminated Distance: 2.21394026 AU = 331,200,748 km = 205,798,606 miles = 18.44 light-minutes Magnitude: 1.2 Apparent size: 4.23 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 25.95 degrees (morning sky) Next close approach of Mars is on Friday, Jan 29, 2010 On 3/20/2009 at 8:37:52pm Mars will be 36.7º below 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: 5:44am Transit 10:50am (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Set: 3:57pm Constellation: Capricornus Phase: 99.54% illuminated Distance: 5.76201755 AU = 861,985,557 km = 535,613,000 miles = 47.99 light-minutes Magnitude: -2.0 Apparent size: 34.21 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 43.58 degrees (morning sky) On 3/20/2009 at 8:37:52pm Jupiter will be 52.3º below the west-northwest horizon Next transit of the Great Red Spot: None before it sets GRS longitude: 129.4 Jupiter satellite events: None visible Saturn data: Rise: 6:17pm Transit 12:47am Mar 21 (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Set: 7:17am Mar 21 Constellation: Leo Phase: 99.99% illuminated Distance: 8.41791237 AU = 1,259,301,766 km = 782,493,850 miles = 1.17 light-hours Magnitude: 0.5 Apparent size: 19.74 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 166.69 degrees (evening sky) On 3/20/2009 at 8:37:52pm Saturn will be 25.1º above the east horizon Uranus data: Rise: 7:14am Transit 1:07pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Set: 7:01pm Constellation: Pisces Phase: 100.00% illuminated Distance: 21.08599644 AU = 3,154,420,169 km = 1,960,065,846 miles = 2.93 light-hours Magnitude: 5.9 Apparent size: 3.34 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 7.51 degrees (morning sky) On 3/20/2009 at 8:37:52pm Uranus will be 19.3º below the west horizon Neptune data: Rise: 6:05am Transit: 11:23am (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Set: 4:40pm Constellation: Capricornus Phase: 99.99% illuminated Distance: 30.83971681 AU = 4,613,555,968 km = 2,866,730,808 miles = 4.28 light-hours Magnitude: 8.0 Apparent size: 2.21 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 35.28 degrees (morning sky) On 3/20/2009 at 8:37:52pm Neptune will be 44.9º below the west-northwest horizon Pluto (Dwarf Planet aka Asteroid 134340) data: Rise: 2:41am Transit 7:42am (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Set: 12:43pm Constellation: Sagittarius Phase: 99.98% illuminated Distance: 31.64723299 AU = 4,734,358,669 km = 2,941,794,127 miles = 4.39 light-hours Magnitude: 14.2 Apparent size: 0.10 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 87.31 degrees (morning sky) On 3/20/2009 at 8:37:52pm Pluto will be 63.9º below the north-northeast horizon *************** Web hosting generously provided by *************** JCSi - Jucikas Computer Services, Inc. 4381 Hudson Drive, Suite KV2, Stow, OH 44224 Tel: 330-689-0155 * Fax: 330-689-0165