Astronomical Observing at Fishcreek - Friday 04/03/2009 Sunset 7:56pm Civil twilight ends: 8:21pm - when the Sun is 6 degrees below the horizon Nautical twilight ends: 8:54pm - when the Sun is 12 degrees below the horizon Astronomical twilight ends: 9:29pm - when the Sun is 18 degrees below the horizon Tonight, the Moon will be with us the entire night - but don't despair. The phase is near First Quarter so there's lots to see near the Terminator - the line separating lunar night from day. We'll also be able to see Saturn, colorful double stars, and open clusters made up of hundreds of stars. The 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 will be somewhat difficult in the light of the Moon. 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. Try to catch the rings now, or as soon as possible, because they'll continue to be more difficult to see as the year progresses reaching invisibility by early September. We hope to see you here for a night under the stars - now in our fourteenth year! Above Horizon: Object Mag Const Rise Set Saturn 0.6 Leo 17:17 06:20 Luna -10.9 Cnc 13:19 04:24 Below Horizon: (new) Object Mag Const Rise Set Sun -26.7 Psc 07:02 19:56 Mercury -1.8 Psc 07:14 20:14 Venus -4.2 Psc 06:04 19:09 Mars 1.2 Aqr 06:03 17:26 Jupiter -2.1 Cap 04:56 15:15 Uranus 5.9 Psc 06:21 18:09 Neptune 8.0 Cap 05:12 15:47 Pluto 14.2 Sgr 01:46 11:49 The following Sun, Moon and planet detail was calculated as it will be on Friday 4/03/09 at 8:54:16pm (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 7:02am Transit: 1:28pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Sets 7:56pm Constellation: Pisces Distance: 1.00010902 AU = 149,614,180 km = 92,965,943 miles = 8.33 light-minutes Magnitude: -26.7 Apparent size: 31.98 arcminutes in angular diameter Civil twilight ends at 8:21pm ( When the Sun is 6 degrees below the horizon ) Nautical twilight ends at 8:54pm ( When the Sun is 12 degrees below the horizon ) Astronomical twilight ends at 9:29pm ( When the Sun is 18 degrees below the horizon ) Summer Solstice: Sunday June 21, 2009 at 1:46am (when Summer 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 4/03/2009 at 8:54:16pm the Sun will be 12º below the west horizon Moon data: Rise: 1:19pm Transit: 8:58pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Sets: 4:24am Apr 4 Constellation: Cancer Phase: 66.25% illuminated (waxing gibbous) 8.37 days since last New Moon Distance: 0.00244004 AU = 365,025 km = 226,816 miles = 1.22 light-seconds Magnitude: -10.9 Apparent size: 32.73 arcminutes in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 108.83° (evening sky) Next Phase: Full Moon on Thursday Apr 9, 2009 at 10:56am Next Lunar eclipse: Total eclipse (100%) on Sunday Sept 27, 2015 at 10:10pm EDT On 4/03/2009 at 8:54:16pm the Moon will be 68.2º above the south-southeast horizon Mercury data: Rise: 7:14am Transit: 1:44pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Sets: 8:14pm Constellation: Pisces Phase: 98.72% illuminated Distance: 1.31367725 AU = 196,523,320 km = 122,113,931 miles = 10.94 light-minutes Magnitude: -1.8 Apparent size: 5.12 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 4.19 ° (evening sky) Next maximum elongations... Evening: Sunday, April 26, 2009 (20° 25' 12") Morning: Saturday, June 13, 2009 (23° 27' 17") On 4/03/2009 at 8:54:16pm Mercury will be 8.3º below the west horizon Venus data: Rise: 6:04am Transit 12:37pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Set: 7:09pm Constellation: Pisces Phase: 2.68% illuminated Distance: 0.28982422 AU = 43,357,086 km = 26,940,845 miles = 2.41 light-minutes Magnitude: -4.2 Apparent size: 57.57 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 13.46 degrees (morning sky) Next maximum elongations... Morning: Friday, June 05, 2009 (45° 51' 07") Evening: Friday, August 20, 2010 (45° 57' 59") On 4/03/2009 at 8:54:16pm Venus will be 19.7º below the west-northwest horizon Mars data: Rise: 6:03am Transit 11:44am (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Set: 5:26pm Constellation: Aquarius Phase: 96.86% illuminated Distance: 2.17266886 AU = 325,026,635 km = 201,962,190 miles = 18.1 light-minutes Magnitude: 1.2 Apparent size: 4.31 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 28.85 degrees (morning sky) Next close approach of Mars is on Friday, Jan 29, 2010 On 4/03/2009 at 8:54:16pm Mars will be 38.9º below the west-northwest 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: 4:56am Transit 10:06am (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Set: 3:15pm Constellation: Capricornus Phase: 99.35% illuminated Distance: 5.59364038 AU = 836,796,690 km = 519,961,363 miles = 46.59 light-minutes Magnitude: -2.1 Apparent size: 35.24 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 54.74° (morning sky) On 4/03/2009 at 8:54:16pm Jupiter will be 60.1º below the northwest horizon Next transit of the Great Red Spot: None before it sets GRS longitude: 129.7 Jupiter satellite events: None visible Saturn data: Rise: 5:17pm Transit 11:48pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Set: 6:20am Apr 4 Constellation: Leo Phase: 99.94% illuminated Distance: 8.49991702 AU = 1,271,569,487 km = 790,116,658 miles = 1.18 light-hours Magnitude: 0.6 Apparent size: 19.55 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 151.93° (evening sky) On 4/03/2009 at 8:54:16pm Saturn will be 38.6º above the east-southeast horizon Uranus data: Rise: 6:21am Transit 12:15pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Set: 6:09pm Constellation: Pisces Phase: 99.99% illuminated Distance: 21.03211053 AU = 3,146,358,951 km = 1,955,056,837 miles = 2.92 light-hours Magnitude: 5.9 Apparent size: 3.35 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 20.57° (morning sky) On 4/03/2009 at 8:54:16pm Uranus will be 31.2º below the west-northwest horizon Neptune data: Rise: 5:12am Transit: 10:29am (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Set: 3:47pm Constellation: Capricornus Phase: 99.98% illuminated Distance: 30.68207156 AU = 4,589,972,574 km = 2,852,076,766 miles = 4.26 light-hours Magnitude: 8.0 Apparent size: 2.23 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 48.72° (morning sky) On 4/03/2009 at 8:54:16pm Neptune will be 55.4º below the northwest horizon Pluto (Dwarf Planet aka Asteroid 134340) data: Rise: 1:46am Transit 6:47am (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Set: 11:49am Constellation: Sagittarius Phase: 99.98% illuminated Distance: 31.41636517 AU = 4,699,821,334 km = 2,920,333,622 miles = 4.36 light-hours Magnitude: 14.2 Apparent size: 0.10 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 101.05° (morning sky) On 4/03/2009 at 8:54:16pm Pluto will be 54.4º below the 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