Astronomical Observing at Fishcreek - Friday 05/01/2009 Sunset: 8:26pm Civil twilight ends: 8:53pm - when the Sun is 6 degrees below the horizon Nautical twilight ends: 9:30pm - when the Sun is 12 degrees below the horizon Astronomical twilight ends: 10:10pm - when the Sun is 18 degrees below the horizon Tonight, we have a First Quarter Moon that will be with us until it sets at 2:57am, but don't despair. This phase is perfect for viewing detail in the craters on or 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 becoming invisible to us 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 5/01/09 at 9:29:59pm (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: 337m Above Horizon: Object Mag Const Rise Set Mercury 1.2 Tau 07:04 22:10 Saturn 0.8 Leo 15:20 04:26 Luna -10.3 Cnc 12:25 02:57 Below Horizon: Object Mag Const Rise Set Sun -26.7 Ari 06:19 20:26 Venus -4.5 Psc 04:40 17:07 Mars 1.2 Cet 05:02 17:26 Jupiter -2.2 Cap 03:15 13:44 Uranus 5.9 Psc 04:34 16:26 Neptune 7.9 Cap 03:19 13:56 Pluto 14.1 Sgr 23:55 09:58 Sun data: Rise 6:19am Transit: 1:22pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Sets 8:26pm Constellation: Aries Distance: 1.00782402 AU = 150,768,327 km = 93,683,096 miles = 8.39 light-minutes Magnitude: -26.7 Apparent size: 31.74 arcminutes in angular diameter Civil twilight ends at 8:53pm ( When the Sun is 6 degrees below the horizon ) Nautical twilight ends at 9:30pm ( When the Sun is 12 degrees below the horizon ) Astronomical twilight ends 10:10pm ( 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 5/1/2009 at 9:29:59pm the Sun will be 12º below the west-northwest horizon Moon data: Rise: 12:25pm Transit: 7:48pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Sets: 2:57am May 2 Constellation: Cancer Phase: 52.22% illuminated (waxing gibbous) Distance: 0.00245243 AU = 366,879 km = 227,968 miles = 1.23 light-seconds Magnitude: -10.3 Apparent size: 32.56 arcminutes in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 92.40 degrees (evening sky) Age: 6.92 days since last New Moon Next Phase: Full Moon on Saturday May 9, 2009 at 12:01am Next Lunar eclipse: Total eclipse (100%) on Sunday Sept 27, 2015 at 10:10pm EDT On 5/1/2009 at 9:29:59pm the Moon will be 56.2º above the southwest horizon Mercury data: Rise: 7:04am Transit: 2:37pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Sets: 10:10pm Constellation: Taurus Phase: 22.05% illuminated Distance: 0.73256434 AU = 109,590,065 km = 68,096,110 miles = 6.1 light-minutes Magnitude: 1.2 Apparent size: 9.18 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 18.95° (evening sky) Next maximum elongations... Morning: Saturday, June 13, 2009 (23° 27' 17") Evening: Monday, August 24, 2009 (27° 21' 57") On 5/1/2009 at 9:29:59pm Mercury will be 5.5º above the west-northwest horizon Venus data: Rise: 4:40am Transit 10:54am (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Set: 5:07pm Constellation: Pisces Phase: 25.80% illuminated Distance: 0.43199975 AU = 64,626,243 km = 40,156,886 miles = 3.6 light-minutes Magnitude: -4.5 Apparent size: 38.63 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 39.02° (morning sky) Next maximum elongations... Morning: Friday, June 05, 2009 (45° 51' 07") Evening: Friday, August 20, 2010 (45° 57' 59") On 5/1/2009 at 9:29:59pm Venus will be 42.6º below the northwest horizon Mars data: Rise: 5:02am Transit 11:14am (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Set: 5:26pm Constellation: Cetus Phase: 95.54% illuminated Distance: 2.08969919 AU = 312,614,549 km = 194,249,677 miles = 17.41 light-minutes Magnitude: 1.2 Apparent size: 4.48 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 34.48° (morning sky) Next close approach of Mars is on Friday, Jan 29, 2010 On 5/1/2009 at 9:29:59pm Mars will be 40.9º below the 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: 3:15am May 2 Transit 8:30am May 2 (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Set: 1:44pm May 2 Constellation: Capricornus Phase: 99.05% illuminated Distance: 5.19052283 AU = 776,491,163 km = 482,489,246 miles = 43.23 light-minutes Magnitude: -2.2 Apparent size: 37.98 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 77.74° (morning sky) On 5/1/2009 at 9:29:59pm Jupiter will be 60.1º below the north-northeast horizon Next transit of the Great Red Spot: 5:28am 5/2/2009 GRS longitude: 130.3 Jupiter satellite events: None during darkness Saturn data: Rise: 3:20pm Transit 9:53pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Set: 4:26am May 2 Constellation: Leo Phase: 99.80% illuminated Distance: 8.81160902 AU = 1,318,197,946 km = 819,090,240 miles = 1.22 light-hours Magnitude: 0.8 Apparent size: 18.86 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 123.28° (evening sky) On 5/1/2009 at 9:29:59pm Saturn will be 56.3º above the south-southeast horizon Uranus data: Rise: 4:34am Transit 10:30am (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Set: 4:26pm Constellation: Pisces Phase: 99.97% illuminated Distance: 20.77829428 AU = 3,108,388,581 km = 1,931,463,143 miles = 2.88 light-hours Magnitude: 5.9 Apparent size: 3.39 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 46.57° (morning sky) On 5/1/2009 at 9:29:59pm Uranus will be 49.2º below the northwest horizon Neptune data: Rise: 3:19am May 2 Transit: 8:38am May 2(Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Set: 1:56pm May 2 Constellation: Capricornus Phase: 99.97% illuminated Distance: 30.26711276 AU = 4,527,895,621 km = 2,813,503,935 miles = 4.20 light-hours Magnitude: 7.9 Apparent size: 2.26 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 75.52° (morning sky) On 5/1/2009 at 9:29:59pm Neptune will be 59.9º below the north-northeast horizon Pluto (Dwarf Planet aka Asteroid 134340) data: Rise: 11:55pm Transit 4:57am May 2 (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Set: 9:58am May 2 Constellation: Sagittarius Phase: 99.98% illuminated Distance: 31.00079996 AU = 4,637,653,663 km = 2,881,704,422 miles = 4.30 light-hours Magnitude: 14.1 Apparent size: 0.11 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 128.46° (morning sky) On 5/1/2009 at 9:29:59pm Pluto will be 28º 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