Astronomical Observing at Fishcreek - Friday 05/15/2009 Sunset: 8:41pm Civil twilight ends: 9:09pm - when the Sun is 6 degrees below the horizon Nautical twilight ends: 9:48pm - when the Sun is 12 degrees below the horizon Astronomical twilight ends: 10:32pm - when the Sun is 18 degrees below the horizon Tonight, we have a Moonless night until it rises at 1:47am. We'll 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. 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 5/15/09 at 9:48:08pm (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 14:24 03:31 Below Horizon: Object Mag Const Rise Set Sun -26.7 Tau 06:03 20:40 Mercury 5.2 Tau 06:20 21:57 Venus -4.5 Psc 04:15 16:53 Mars 1.2 Psc 04:32 17:25 Jupiter -2.3 Cap 02:24 12:57 Uranus 5.9 Psc 03:40 15:34 Neptune 7.9 Cap 02:25 13:02 Pluto 14.1 Sgr 22:59 09:02 Luna -10.5 Cap 01:47 12:24 Sun data: Rise 6:03am Transit: 1:22pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Sets 8:40pm Constellation: Taurus Distance: 1.01108672 AU = 151,256,421 km = 93,986,384 miles = 8.42 light-minutes Magnitude: -26.7 Apparent size: 31.64 arcminutes in angular diameter Civil twilight ends at 9:09pm ( When the Sun is 6 degrees below the horizon ) Nautical twilight ends at 9:48pm ( When the Sun is 12 degrees below the horizon ) Astronomical twilight ends 10:32pm ( 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 5/15/2009 at 9:48:08pm the Sun will be 12º below the west-northwest horizon Moon data: Rise: 1:47am May 16 Transit: 7:02am May 16 (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Sets: 12:24pm May 16 Constellation: Capricornus Phase: 61.61% illuminated (waning gibbous) Distance: 0.00272143 AU = 407,120 km = 252,973 miles = 1.36 light-seconds Magnitude: -10.5 Apparent size: 29.34 arcminutes in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 103.27° (morning sky) Age: 20.93 days since last New Moon Next Phase: Last Quarter on Sunday May 17, 2009 at 3:26am Next Lunar eclipse: Total eclipse (100%) on Sunday Sept 27, 2015 at 10:10pm EDT On 5/15/2009 at 9:48:08pm the Moon will be 44.4º below the east-northeast horizon Mercury data: Rise: 6:20am Transit: 1:39pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Sets: 8:57pm Constellation: Taurus Phase: 0.49% illuminated Distance: 0.55935624 AU = 83,678,502 km = 51,995,411 miles = 4.66 light-minutes Magnitude: 5.2 Apparent size: 12.02 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 3.60° (evening sky) Next maximum elongations... Morning: Saturday, June 13, 2009 (23° 27' 17") Evening: Monday, August 24, 2009 (27° 21' 57") On 5/15/2009 at 9:48:08pm Mercury will be 9.3º below the west-northwest horizon Venus data: Rise: 4:15am Transit 10:33am (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Set: 4:53pm Constellation: Pisces Phase: 36.71% illuminated Distance: 0.53580861 AU = 80,155,827 km = 49,806,522 miles = 4.46 light-minutes Magnitude: -4.5 Apparent size: 31.14 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 43.86° (morning sky) Next maximum elongations... Morning: Friday, June 05, 2009 (45° 51' 07") Evening: Friday, August 20, 2010 (45° 57' 59") On 5/15/2009 at 9:48:08pm Venus will be 43.8º below the north-northwest horizon Mars data: Rise: 4:32am Transit 10:58am (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Set: 5:25pm Constellation: Pisces Phase: 94.85% illuminated Distance: 2.04728392 AU = 306,269,315 km = 190,306,932 miles = 17.05 light-minutes Magnitude: 1.2 Apparent size: 4.57 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 37.29° (morning sky) Next close approach of Mars is on Friday, Jan 29, 2010 On 5/15/2009 at 9:48:08pm Mars will be 40.1º 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: 2:24am May 16 Transit 7:41am May 16 (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Set: 12:57pm May 16 Constellation: Capricornus Phase: 99.00% illuminated Distance: 4.97104602 AU = 743,657,900 km = 462,087,602 miles = 41.41 light-minutes Magnitude: -2.3 Apparent size: 39.66 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 89.75° (morning sky) On 5/15/2009 at 9:48:08pm Jupiter will be 51.2º below the northeast horizon Next transit of the Great Red Spot: None visible GRS longitude: 130.6 Jupiter satellite events: None during darkness Saturn data: Rise: 2:24pm Transit 8:58pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Set: 3:31am May 16 Constellation: Leo Phase: 99.74% illuminated Distance: 9.0198093 AU = 1,349,344,265 km = 838,443,665 miles = 1.25 light-hours Magnitude: 0.8 Apparent size: 18.43 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 109.55° (evening sky) On 5/15/2009 at 9:48:08pm Saturn will be 54.9º above the south horizon Uranus data: Rise: 3:37am May 16 Transit 9:33am May 16 (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Set: 3:30pm May 16 Constellation: Pisces Phase: 99.95% illuminated Distance: 20.59198558 AU = 3,080,517,196 km = 1,914,144,667 miles = 2.86 light-hours Magnitude: 5.9 Apparent size: 3.42 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 59.56° (morning sky) On 5/15/2009 at 9:48:08pm Uranus will be 51.1º below the north horizon Neptune data: Rise: 2:25am May 16 Transit: 7:43am May 16 (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Set: 1:02pm May 16 Constellation: Capricornus Phase: 99.97% illuminated Distance: 30.03273215 AU = 4,492,832,780 km = 2,791,716,896 miles = 4.17 light-hours Magnitude: 7.9 Apparent size: 2.27 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 88.92° (morning sky) On 5/15/2009 at 9:48:08pm Neptune will be 51.2º below the northeast horizon Pluto (Dwarf Planet aka Asteroid 134340) data: Rise: 10:59pm Transit 4:01am May 16 (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Set: 9:02am May 16 Constellation: Sagittarius Phase: 99.99% illuminated Distance: 30.84077052 AU = 4,613,713,600 km = 2,866,828,756 miles = 4.28 light-hours Magnitude: 14.1 Apparent size: 0.11 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 142.09° (morning sky) On 5/15/2009 at 9:48:08pm Pluto will be 14.1º 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