Astronomical Observing at Fishcreek - Friday 04/10/2009 Sunset 8:04pm Civil twilight ends: 8:29pm - when the Sun is 6 degrees below the horizon Nautical twilight ends: 9:03pm - when the Sun is 12 degrees below the horizon Astronomical twilight ends: 9:38pm - when the Sun is 18 degrees below the horizon Tonight, the Moon will be with us nearly the entire night. It will rise at 9:34pm and clear the trees to the east around 11:00pm, but don't despair. The phase is just past full so there's lots to see in the maria - especially Mare Crisium, Mare Tranquillitatis, Mare Fecunditatis and Mare Serenitatis. 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 becoming invisible by early September. We hope to see you here for a night under the stars - now in our fourteenth year! The following Sun, Moon and planet detail was calculated as it will be on Friday 4/10/09 at 9:02:55pm (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 Above Horizon: Object Mag Const Rise Set Saturn 0.6 Leo 16:47 05:51 Luna -12.2 Vir 21:34 07:31 Below Horizon: Object Mag Const Rise Set Sun -26.7 Psc 06:50 20:03 Mercury -1.3 Ari 07:16 21:03 Venus -4.4 Psc 05:37 18:24 Mars 1.2 Aqr 05:48 17:26 Jupiter -2.1 Cap 04:32 14:54 Uranus 5.9 Psc 05:54 17:44 Neptune 7.9 Cap 04:45 15:20 Pluto 14.2 Sgr 01:19 11:21 Sun data: Rise 6:50am Transit: 1:26pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Sets 8:03pm Constellation: Pisces Distance: 1.00209547 AU = 149,911,349 km = 93,150,595 miles = 8.35 light-minutes Magnitude: -26.7 Apparent size: 31.92 arcminutes in angular diameter Civil twilight ends at 8:29pm ( When the Sun is 6 degrees below the horizon ) Nautical twilight ends at 9:03pm ( When the Sun is 12 degrees below the horizon ) Astronomical twilight ends 9:38pm ( 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 4/10/2009 at 9:02:55pm the Sun will be 12º below the west-northwest horizon Moon data: Rise: 9:34pm Transit: 2:36am Apr 11 (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Sets: 7:31am Apr 11 Constellation: Virgo Phase: 97.35% illuminated (waning gibbous) Distance: 0.00261378 AU = 391,016 km = 242,966 miles = 1.31 light-seconds Magnitude: -12.2 Apparent size: 30.55 arcminutes in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 161.22 degrees (morning sky) Age: 15.37 days since last New Moon Next Phase: Last Quarter on Friday Apr 17, 2009 at 9:36am Next Lunar eclipse: Total eclipse (100%) on Sunday Sept 27, 2015 at 10:10pm EDT On 4/10/2009 at 9:02:55pm the Moon will be 6.7º below the east horizon Mercury data: Rise: 7:16am Transit: 2:08pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Sets: 9:03pm Constellation: Aries Phase: 87.70% illuminated Distance: 1.21344057 AU = 181,528,126 km = 112,796,349 miles = 10.11 light-minutes Magnitude: -1.3 Apparent size: 5.54 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 11.63° (evening sky) Next maximum elongations... Evening: Sunday, April 26, 2009 (20° 25' 12") Morning: Saturday, June 13, 2009 (23° 27' 17") On 4/10/2009 at 9:02:55pm Mercury will be 1º below the west horizon Venus data: Rise: 5:37am Transit 12:01pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Set: 6:24pm Constellation: Pisces Phase: 7.20% illuminated Distance: 0.31162541 AU = 46,618,498 km = 28,967,392 miles = 2.6 light-minutes Magnitude: -4.4 Apparent size: 53.55 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 21.88° (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: 5:48am Transit 11:37am (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Set: 5:26pm Constellation: Aquarius Phase: 96.54% illuminated Distance: 2.15202841 AU = 321,938,868 km = 200,043,541 miles = 17.93 light-minutes Magnitude: 1.2 Apparent size: 4.35 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 30.27° (morning sky) Next close approach of Mars is on Friday, Jan 29, 2010 On 4/10/2009 at 9:02:55pm Mars will be 39.8º 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: 4:32am Transit 9:43am (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Set: 2:54pm Constellation: Capricornus Phase: 99.26% illuminated Distance: 5.49989959 AU = 822,773,268 km = 511,247,613 miles = 45.81 light-minutes Magnitude: -2.1 Apparent size: 35.85 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 60.38° (morning sky) On 4/10/2009 at 9:02:55pm Jupiter will be 62.6º below the north-northwest horizon Next transit of the Great Red Spot: None before it sets GRS longitude: 129.8 Jupiter satellite events: None visible Saturn data: Rise: 4:47pm Transit 11:19pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Set: 5:51am Apr 11 Constellation: Leo Phase: 99.90% illuminated Distance: 8.56112192 AU = 1,280,725,610 km = 795,806,009 miles = 1.19 light-hours Magnitude: 0.6 Apparent size: 19.41 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 144.63° (evening sky) On 4/10/2009 at 9:02:55pm Saturn will be 44.7º above the east-southeast horizon Uranus data: Rise: 5:54am Transit 11:49am (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Set: 5:44pm Constellation: Pisces Phase: 99.99% illuminated Distance: 20.98589833 AU = 3,139,445,704 km = 1,950,761,144 miles = 2.91 light-hours Magnitude: 5.9 Apparent size: 3.36 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 27.08° (morning sky) On 4/10/2009 at 9:02:55pm Uranus will be 36.8º below the west-northwest horizon Neptune data: Rise: 4:45am Transit: 10:02am (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Set: 3:20pm Constellation: Capricornus Phase: 99.98% illuminated Distance: 30.58883903 AU = 4,576,025,185 km = 2,843,410,260 miles = 4.25 light-hours Magnitude: 7.9 Apparent size: 2.23 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 55.43° (morning sky) On 4/10/2009 at 9:02:55pm Neptune will be 59.3º below the northwest horizon Pluto (Dwarf Planet aka Asteroid 134340) data: Rise: 1:19am Transit 6:20am (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Set: 11:21am Constellation: Sagittarius Phase: 99.98% illuminated Distance: 31.30428959 AU = 4,683,055,066 km = 2,909,915,546 miles = 4.35 light-hours Magnitude: 14.2 Apparent size: 0.11 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 107.91° (morning sky) On 4/10/2009 at 9:02:55pm Pluto will be 48.3º below the east-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