Astronomical Observing at Fishcreek - Friday 06/26/2009 Sunset: 9:06pm Civil twilight ends: 9:36pm - when the Sun is 6 degrees below the horizon Nautical twilight ends: 10:20pm - when the Sun is 12 degrees below the horizon Astronomical twilight ends: 11:11pm - when the Sun is 18 degrees below the horizon Tonight, we have a relatively thin crescent Moon that will be with us until it sets at 11:55pm. 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 6/26/09 at 10:19:31pm (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 1.0 Leo 11:46 00:48 Pluto 14.1 Sgr 20:10 06:12 Luna -8.8 Sex 10:26 23:55 Below Horizon: Object Mag Const Rise Set Sun -26.7 Gem 05:51 21:06 Mercury -0.6 Tau 04:41 19:37 Venus -4.4 Psc 03:20 17:24 Mars 1.2 Ari 03:04 17:20 Jupiter -2.6 Cap 23:43 10:17 Uranus 5.8 Psc 00:53 12:49 Neptune 7.9 Cap 23:39 10:16 Sun data: Rise 5:51am Transit: 1:28pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Sets 9:06pm Constellation: Taurus Distance: 1.01657328 AU = 152,077,198 km = 94,496,391 miles = 8.47 light-minutes Magnitude: -26.7 Apparent size: 31.47 arcminutes in angular diameter Civil twilight ends at 9:36pm ( When the Sun is 6 degrees below the horizon ) Nautical twilight ends at 10:19pm ( When the Sun is 12 degrees below the horizon ) Astronomical twilight ends 11:11pm ( When the Sun is 18 degrees below the horizon ) Autumnal Equinox: Tuesday Sept 22, 2009 at 5:19pm (when Fall 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 6/26/2009 at 10:19:31pm the Sun will be 12º below the northwest horizon Moon data: Rise: 10:26am Transit: 5:17pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Sets: 11:55pm Constellation: Sextans Phase: 24.44% illuminated (waxing crescent) Distance: 0.00245352 AU = 367,041 km = 228,069 miles = 1.23 light-seconds Magnitude: -8.8 Apparent size: 32.55 arcminutes in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 59.14° (evening sky) Age: 4.28 days since last New Moon Next Phase: First Quarter on Monday June 29, 2009 at 7:28am Next Lunar eclipse: Total eclipse (100%) on Sunday Sept 27, 2015 at 10:10pm EDT On 6/26/2009 at 10:19:31pm the Moon will be 16.4º above the west-southwest horizon Mercury data: Rise: 4:41am Transit: 12:09pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Sets: 7:37pm Constellation: Taurus Phase: 69.54% illuminated Distance: 1.10036539 AU = 164,612,319 km = 102,285,354 miles = 9.17 light-minutes Magnitude: -0.6 Apparent size: 6.11 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 18.12° (morning sky) Next maximum elongations... Evening: Monday, August 24, 2009 (27° 21' 57") Morning: Tuesday, October 06, 2009 (17° 56' 43") On 6/26/2009 at 10:19:31pm Mercury will be 22.2º below the northwest horizon Venus data: Rise: 3:20am Transit 10:21am (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Set: 5:24pm Constellation: Aries Phase: 60.02% illuminated Distance: 0.87031115 AU = 130,196,695 km = 80,900,477 miles = 7.25 light-minutes Magnitude: -4.2 Apparent size: 19.17 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 44.55° (morning sky) Next maximum elongations... Evening: Friday, August 20, 2010 (45° 57' 59") Morning: Saturday, January 08, 2011 (46° 57' 24") On 6/26/2009 at 10:19:31pm Venus will be 33.4º below the north-northwest horizon Mars data: Rise: 3:04am Jun 27 Transit 10:12am Jun 27 (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Set: 5:20pm Jun 27 Constellation: Aries Phase: 92.69% illuminated Distance: 1.90766622 AU = 285,382,805 km = 177,328,656 miles = 15.89 light-minutes Magnitude: 1.1 Apparent size: 4.90 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 46.31° (morning sky) Next close approach of Mars is on Friday, Jan 29, 2010 On 6/26/2009 at 10:19:31pm Mars will be 31.9º below the north 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: 11:43pm Transit 5:00am Jun 27 (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Set: 10:17am Jun 27 Constellation: Capricornus Phase: 99.38% illuminated Distance: 4.35584029 AU = 651,624,433 km = 404,900,656 miles = 36.28 light-minutes Magnitude: -2.6 Apparent size: 45.26 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 128.80° (morning sky) On 6/26/2009 at 10:19:31pm Jupiter will be 16.7º below the east horizon Next transit of the Great Red Spot: Saturday June 27, 2009 at 1:44am GRS longitude: 131.5 Jupiter satellite events: Io shadow transits ends at 11:06pm with Jupiter 8° below horizon Io transit ends at 0:10am with Jupiter 3.6° above horizon Ganymede eclipse begins at 0:35am with Jupiter 7.9° above horizon Ganymede eclipse ends at 4:14am with Jupiter 34.3° above horizon Ganymede occultation begins at 4:52am with Jupiter 35.3° above horizon Saturn data: Rise: 11:46am Transit 6:17pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Set: 0:48am Jun 27 Constellation: Leo Phase: 99.74% illuminated Distance: 9.70525994 AU = 1,451,886,221 km = 902,160,283 miles = 1.35 light-hours Magnitude: 1.0 Apparent size: 17.12 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 70.74° (evening sky) On 6/26/2009 at 10:19:31pm Saturn will be 26.8º above the west-southwest horizon Uranus data: Rise: 0:53am Jun 27 Transit 6:51am Jun 27 (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Set: 12:49pm Jun 27 Constellation: Pisces Phase: 99.94% illuminated Distance: 19.91480161 AU = 2,979,211,916 km = 1,851,196,483 miles = 2.76 light-hours Magnitude: 5.8 Apparent size: 3.54 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 98.98° (morning sky) On 6/26/2009 at 10:19:31pm Uranus will be 29.4º below the northeast horizon Neptune data: Rise: 11:39pm Transit: 4:57am Jun 27 (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Set: 10:16am Jun 27 Constellation: Capricornus Phase: 99.98% illuminated Distance: 29.37487012 AU = 4,394,418,022 km = 2,730,564,800 miles = 4.08 light-hours Magnitude: 7.9 Apparent size: 2.32 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 129.34° (morning sky) On 6/26/2009 at 10:19:31pm Neptune will be 16º below the east horizon Pluto (Dwarf Planet aka Asteroid 134340) data: Rise: 8:10pm Transit 1:11am Jun 27 (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Set: 6:12am Jun 27 Constellation: Sagittarius Phase: 100.00% illuminated Distance: 30.65646162 AU = 4,586,141,381 km = 2,849,696,173 miles = 4.26 light-hours Magnitude: 14.1 Apparent size: 0.11 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 173.16° (evening sky) On 6/26/2009 at 10:19:31pm Pluto will be 18.8º above the southeast 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