Astronomical Observing from Fishcreek Observing Site - Friday 6/25/2010 at 10:19:32pm (nautical twilight). Sunset: 9:06pm Civil twilight ends: 9:36pm Nautical twilight ends: 10:20pm Astronomical twilight ends: 11:11pm Moon Phase: 99.86% illuminated (waxing gibbous) Rise: 8:37pm Age: 13d 15h 7m since last New Moon Tonight, we have a very bright full Moon with us the entire night.  While this phase isn't the best for viewing detail in the craters on or near the terminator - the line separating lunar night from day, a wealth of features can still be seen. Faint DSOs (Deep Space Objects) are probably not going to be visible due to the Moon, but Saturn will be beautiful with its rings still nearly edge-on and several moons visible. Also, we have Venus showing a gibbous phase, and Mars growing smaller every night. We have the colorful double stars, 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. Galaxies probably won't be visible this evening, except perhaps for our own Milky Way. We hope to see you here for a night under the stars - now in our fifteenth year! All times are shown in EDT (Eastern Daylight Time (UT-4)) as seen from Stow, Ohio Longitude: W 81 25' 38.3" Latitude: N 41 11' 11.1" Altitude: 337m The following Sun, Moon and planet detail was calculated as it will be on Friday 6/25/2010 at 10:19:32pm (nautical twilight). Source: Guide8 software available from www.projectpluto.com ABOVE HORIZON: Object Mag Const Rise Set Venus -4.0 Cnc 08:59 23:30 Mars 1.3 Leo 11:21 00:34 Saturn 1.1 Vir 12:52 01:22 Pluto 14.2 Sgr 20:27 06:24 Moon -12.6 Sgr 20:37 05:56 BELOW HORIZON: Object Mag Const Rise Set Sun -26.7 Gem 05:50 21:06 Mercury -2.0 Gem 05:31 20:55 Jupiter -2.4 Psc 01:13 13:22 Uranus 5.8 Psc 01:07 13:14 Neptune 7.9 Aqr 23:50 10:32 Sun data: Rise: 5:50am Transit: 1:28pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Sets: 9:06pm Constellation: Gemini Distance: 1.0164712 AU = 152,061,927 km = 94,486,902 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° below the horizon ) Nautical twilight ends at: 10:20pm ( When the Sun is 12° below the horizon ) Astronomical twilight ends at: 11:11pm ( When the Sun is 18° below the horizon ) Summer began at the Summer Solstice which occurred on Monday Jun 21, 2010 at 7:29am Fall begins at the Autumnal Equinox which will occur on Wednesday Sep 22, 2010 at 11:10pm 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 6/25/2010 at 10:19:32pm the Sun will be 12° below the northwest horizon Moon data: Rise: 8:37pm Transit: 1:15am - Jun 26 (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Sets: 5:56am - Jun 26 Constellation: Sagittarius Phase: 99.86% illuminated (waxing gibbous) Distance: 0.00262311 AU = 392,412 km = 243,834 miles = 1.31 light-seconds Magnitude: -12.6 Apparent size: 30.44 arcminutes in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 175.63° (evening sky) Age: 13d 15h 7m since last New Moon Prior Phase: First Quarter on Saturday Jun 19, 2010 at 12:30am Next Phase: Full Moon on Saturday Jun 26, 2010 at 7:30am Next Lunar eclipse: Total eclipse (100%) on Sunday Sept 27, 2015 at 10:10pm EDT On 6/25/2010 at 10:19:32pm the Moon will be 12.5° above the southeast horizon Mercury data: Rise: 5:31am Transit: 1:13pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Sets: 8:55pm Constellation: Gemini Phase: 99.19% illuminated Distance: 1.3176669 AU = 197,120,162 km = 122,484,792 miles = 10.98 light-minutes Magnitude: -2.0 Apparent size: 5.10 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 3.10° (morning sky) Next maximum elongations... Evening: Saturday, August 7, 2010 (27° 22' 00") Morning: Sunday, September 19, 2010 (17° 52' 13") On 6/25/2010 at 10:19:32pm Mercury will be 12.8° below the northwest horizon Venus data: Rise: 8:59am Transit: 4:15pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Sets: 11:30pm Constellation: Cancer Phase: 72.62% illuminated Distance: 1.11336163 AU = 166,556,529 km = 103,493,430 miles = 9.27 light-minutes Magnitude: -4.0 Apparent size: 14.99 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 39.26° (evening sky) Next maximum elongations... Evening: Friday, August 20, 2010 (45° 57' 59") Morning: Saturday, January 8, 2011 (46° 57' 24") On 6/25/2010 at 10:19:32pm Venus will be 11.4° above the west horizon Mars data: Rise: 11:21am Transit: 5:57pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Sets: 0:34am - Jun 26 Constellation: Leo Phase: 91.12% illuminated Distance: 1.75696812 AU = 262,838,690 km = 163,320,392 miles = 14.63 light-minutes Magnitude: 1.3 Apparent size: 5.33 arcseconds inangular diameter Elongation from Sun: 65.78° (evening sky) Dates of Opposition (when Mars is closest to Earth) Previous: Friday Jan 29, 2010 at 2:21pm. Distance: 99,400,435 km. Size: 14.08 arcseconds. Next: Saturday Mar 3, 2012 at 3:52pm. Distance: 100,839,728 km. Size: 13.88 arcseconds. On 6/25/2010 at 10:19:32pm Mars will be 24.1° above the west-southwest 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: 1:13am - Jun 26 Transit: 7:18am - Jun 26 (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Sets: 1:22pm - Jun 26 Constellation: Pisces Phase: 98.94% illuminated Distance: 4.82482047 AU = 721,782,868 km = 448,495,087 miles = 40.19 light-minutes Magnitude: -2.4 Apparent size: 40.86 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 92.20° (morning sky) Dates of Opposition (when Jupiter is closest to Earth) Previous: Friday Aug 14, 2009 at 1:44pm Next: Tuesday Sep 21, 2010 at 7:28am On 6/25/2010 at 10:19:32pm Jupiter will be 32.3° below the northeast horizon Next transit of the Great Red Spot: Saturday Jun 26, 2010 at 3:44am (The Red Spot transits about every 9 hours 56 minutes) GRS longitude: 144.8 Jupiter satellite events (during darkness): Saturn data: Rise: 12:52pm Transit: 7:07pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Sets: 1:22am - Jun 26 Constellation: Virgo Phase: 99.72% illuminated Distance: 9.58048707 AU = 1,433,220,466 km = 890,561,921 miles = 1.33 light-hours Magnitude: 1.1 Apparent size: 17.35 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 84.01° (evening sky) Dates of Opposition (when Saturn is closest to Earth) Previous: Sunday Mar 21, 2010 at 8:28pm Next: Sunday Apr 3, 2011 at 7:48pm On 6/25/2010 at 10:19:32pm Saturn will be 32.3° above the southwest horizon Uranus data: Rise: 1:07am - Jun 26 Transit: 7:11am - Jun 26 (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Sets: 1:14pm - Jun 26 Constellation: Pisces Phase: 99.94% illuminated Distance: 20.00006179 AU = 2,991,966,658 km = 1,859,121,913 miles = 2.78 light-hours Magnitude: 5.8 Apparent size: 3.52 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 93.86° (morning sky) Dates of Opposition (when Uranus is closest to Earth) Previous: Thursday Sep 17, 2009 at 5:34am Next: Tuesday Sep 21, 2010 at 12:51pm On 6/25/2010 at 10:19:32pm Uranus will be 31.4° below the northeast horizon Neptune data: Rise: 11:50pm Transit: 5:11am - Jun 26 (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Sets: 10:32am - Jun 26 Constellation: Aquarius Phase: 99.98% illuminated Distance: 29.41251274 AU = 4,400,049,277 km = 2,734,063,899 miles = 4.08 light-hours Magnitude: 7.9 Apparent size: 2.32 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 125.88° (morning sky) Dates of Opposition (when Neptune is closest to Earth) Previous: Monday Aug 17, 2009 at 4:47pm Next: Friday Aug 20, 2010 at 5:59am On 6/25/2010 at 10:19:32pm Neptune will be 18.1° below the east horizon Pluto (Dwarf Planet aka Asteroid 134340) data: Rise: 8:27pm Transit: 1:25am - Jun 26 (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Sets: 6:24am - Jun 26 Constellation: Sagittarius Phase: 100.00% illuminated Distance: 30.84243382 AU = 4,613,962,426 km = 2,866,983,369 miles = 4.28 light-hours Magnitude: 14.2 Apparent size: 0.11 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 174.87° (evening sky) Dates of Opposition (when Pluto is closest to Earth) Previous: Friday Jun 25, 2010 at 2:59pm Next: Tuesday Jun 28, 2011 at 1:23am On 6/25/2010 at 10:19:32pm Pluto will be 16.5° above the east-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