Astronomical Observing at Fishcreek - Friday 05/08/2009 Sunset: 8:34pm Civil twilight ends: 9:01pm - when the Sun is 6 degrees below the horizon Nautical twilight ends: 9:39pm - when the Sun is 12 degrees below the horizon Astronomical twilight ends: 10:21pm - when the Sun is 18 degrees below the horizon Tonight, we have a Full Moon that will be with us all night. Dispite the brightness of the Moon, we'll still 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 5/08/09 at 9:39:12pm (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 Saturn 0.8 Leo 14:52 03:58 Luna -12.5 Lib 20:27 06:05 Below Horizon: Object Mag Const Rise Set Sun -26.7 Ari 06:11 20:33 Mercury 2.8 Tau 06:49 21:44 Venus -4.5 Psc 04:27 16:57 Mars 1.2 Psc 04:47 17:26 Jupiter -2.3 Cap 02:50 13:21 Uranus 5.9 Psc 04:07 16:00 Neptune 7.9 Cap 02:52 13:29 Pluto 14.1 Sgr 23:27 09:30 Sun data: Rise 6:11am Transit: 1:22pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Sets 8:33pm Constellation: Aries Distance: 1.00949727 AU = 151,018,642 km = 93,838,635 miles = 8.41 light-minutes Magnitude: -26.7 Apparent size: 31.69 arcminutes in angular diameter Civil twilight ends at 9:01pm ( When the Sun is 6 degrees below the horizon ) Nautical twilight ends at 9:39pm ( When the Sun is 12 degrees below the horizon ) Astronomical twilight ends 10:21pm ( 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 5/8/2009 at 9:39:12pm the Sun will be 12º below the west-northwest horizon Moon data: Rise: 8:27pm Transit: 1:19am May 9 (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Sets: 6:05am May 9 Constellation: Libra Phase: 99.78% illuminated (waxing gibbous) Distance: 0.00263123 AU = 393,627 km = 244,588 miles = 1.31 light-seconds Magnitude: -12.5 Apparent size: 30.35 arcminutes in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 174.59° (evening sky) Age: 13.93 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 5/8/2009 at 9:39:12pm the Moon will be 9.2º above the east-southeast horizon Mercury data: Rise: 6:46am Transit: 2:15pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Sets: 9:44pm Constellation: Taurus Phase: 7.69% illuminated Distance: 0.6195364 AU = 92,681,326 km = 57,589,507 miles = 5.16 light-minutes Magnitude: 2.8 Apparent size: 10.86 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 13.11° (evening sky) Next maximum elongations... Morning: Saturday, June 13, 2009 (23° 27' 17") Evening: Monday, August 24, 2009 (27° 21' 57") On 5/8/2009 at 9:39:12pm Mercury will be 0.3º below the west-northwest horizon Venus data: Rise: 4:27am Transit 10:42am (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Set: 4:57pm Constellation: Pisces Phase: 31.51% illuminated Distance: 0.4825795 AU = 72,192,866 km = 44,858,568 miles = 4.02 light-minutes Magnitude: -4.5 Apparent size: 34.58 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 41.93° (morning sky) Next maximum elongations... Morning: Friday, June 05, 2009 (45° 51' 07") Evening: Friday, August 20, 2010 (45° 57' 59") On 5/8/2009 at 9:39:12pm Venus will be 43.8º below the north-northwest horizon Mars data: Rise: 4:47am Transit 11:06am (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Set: 5:26pm Constellation: Pisces Phase: 95.20% illuminated Distance: 2.06860535 AU = 309,458,955 km = 192,288,882 miles = 17.23 light-minutes Magnitude: 1.2 Apparent size: 4.52 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 35.88° (morning sky) Next close approach of Mars is on Friday, Jan 29, 2010 On 5/8/2009 at 9:39:12pm Mars will be 40.6º 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: 2:50am May 9 Transit 8:05am May 9 (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Set: 1:21pm May 9 Constellation: Capricornus Phase: 99.01% illuminated Distance: 5.08137539 AU = 760,162,939 km = 472,343,358 miles = 42.32 light-minutes Magnitude: -2.3 Apparent size: 38.80 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 83.70° (morning sky) On 5/8/2009 at 9:39:12pm Jupiter will be 56.2º below the north-northeast horizon Next transit of the Great Red Spot: 6:15am 5/9/2009 GRS longitude: 130.5 Jupiter satellite events: None during darkness Saturn data: Rise: 2:52pm Transit 9:25pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Set: 3:58am May 9 Constellation: Leo Phase: 99.77% illuminated Distance: 8.91263069 AU = 1,333,310,574 km = 828,480,791 miles = 1.24 light-hours Magnitude: 0.8 Apparent size: 18.65 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 116.36° (evening sky) On 5/8/2009 at 9:39:12pm Saturn will be 56.6º above the south horizon Uranus data: Rise: 4:07am Transit 10:04am (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Set: 4:00pm Constellation: Pisces Phase: 99.96% illuminated Distance: 20.68917702 AU = 3,095,056,828 km = 1,923,179,175 miles = 2.87 light-hours Magnitude: 5.9 Apparent size: 3.41 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 53.06° (morning sky) On 5/8/2009 at 9:39:12pm Uranus will be 50.9º below the north-northwest horizon Neptune data: Rise: 2:52am May 9 Transit: 8:10am May 9(Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Set: 1:29pm May 9 Constellation: Capricornus Phase: 99.97% illuminated Distance: 30.15086101 AU = 4,510,504,606 km = 2,802,697,660 miles = 4.19 light-hours Magnitude: 7.9 Apparent size: 2.26 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 82.22° (morning sky) On 5/8/2009 at 9:39:12pm Neptune will be 56.1º below the north-northeast horizon Pluto (Dwarf Planet aka Asteroid 134340) data: Rise: 11:27pm Transit 4:29am May 9 (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Set: 9:30am May 9 Constellation: Sagittarius Phase: 99.99% illuminated Distance: 30.91569206 AU = 4,624,921,703 km = 2,873,793,148 miles = 4.29 light-hours Magnitude: 14.1 Apparent size: 0.11 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 135.28° (morning sky) On 5/8/2009 at 9:39:12pm Pluto will be 21º below the east 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