|
Astronomical Observing at
Fishcreek Observing Site
Friday - 6/25/2010 8:05pm
|
| Report:
Fantastic night!
Despite the full Moon, we had great views. Lots of telescopes were
available for our use thanks to members of the
ACA.
Saturn, Mars and
Venus were all seen, as well as hundreds of features on the full Moon. |
Click
HERE
for event status
Click
HERE
for a printer-friendly
version of the information on this page.
Click
HERE
for general Information you
should know about our events - Q&A of Where, When and What.
Click
HERE
for satellite passes this evening. 
| 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 due to the
brightness of the full Moon.
Click
HERE
for a list of DeepSky Objects
that will be available to us this session. |
We hope to see you here for a night under the stars -
now in our fifteenth year!
|
- - - - - - Our location - - - - - - |
|
Longitude: |
W |
81° |
25' |
38.4" |
| Latitude: |
N |
41° |
11' |
11.1" |
| Altitude: |
337m |
Note: All times are shown in EDT
(Eastern Daylight Time (UT-4)) as seen from Stow, Ohio
Quick links:
Inner Solar System
Outer Solar System
|
Sun data |
| |
|
Rises: |
5:50am |
|
Transits: |
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 |
|
Twilight
ends... |
|
Civil: |
9:36pm
- Sun is 6° below the horizon |
|
Nautical: |
10:20pm
- Sun is 12° below the
horizon |
|
Astronomical: |
11:11pm
- 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 Eclipses
in Stow, Ohio:
Partial eclipse (>80%) on Monday August 21, 2017
2:30pm EDT
Total eclipse (an amazing sight!) on Monday April
8, 2024 2:15pm EST (3:15pm EDT)
On 6/25/2010 at 10:19:32pm
the Sun will be 12°
below
the northwest horizon
(back to 'Quick Links') |
|
|
Moon data |
| |
|
Rises: |
8:37pm |
|
Transits: |
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
and will look like this in our telescopes at very low power*
*How do we change the "power" (magnification) of our
telescopes?
Simple! By changing the eyepiece to one of a longer or
shorter focal length.
If the eyepiece is of shorter focal length, the "power"
(magnification) is higher,
If he eyepiece is of longer focal length, the "power"
(magnification) is lower.
By how much? Here's the formula:
|
Magnification
=F |
focal length
of telescope objective lens (or mirror) |
|
focal length
of eyepiece being used
|
Note:
All graphics are correct-image representations. A telescope
will reverse this left-right and possibly invert up-down
depending on type of equipment being used.
(back to 'Quick
Links')
|
|
|
Mercury data |
| |
|
Rises: |
5:31am |
|
Transits:
|
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
(back to 'Quick
Links') |
|
|
Venus data |
| |
|
Rises: |
8:59am |
|
Transits: |
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
(extremely bright, the
brightest thing in the evening sky except for the
Moon) |
|
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
and will look like this in our telescopes at high power...
(back to 'Quick
Links') |
|
|
Mars data |
| |
|
Rises: |
11:21am |
|
Transits: |
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
in angular diameter |
|
Elongation from Sun: |
65.78° (evening sky) |
|
Dates of
Opposition
(when Mars is closest to the 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*
be "as big as a Full Moon on August
27!"
Please see the following links for more information
about this annual 'Mars Hoax'
Sky & Telescope article
Snopes.com article
Hoax-slayer article
Universe Today article
(back to 'Quick
Links') |
|
|
Jupiter data |
| |
|
Rises: |
1:13am - Jun 26 |
|
Transits: |
7:18am - Jun 26
- Time of highest
position in the sky, due South |
|
Sets: |
1:22pm - Jun 26 |
|
Constellation: |
Piscess |
|
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 the Earth) |
|
Previous: |
Friday Aug 14, 2009 at
1:44pm |
|
Next: |
Tuesday Sep 21, 2010 at
7:28am |
Next transit of the Great Red Spot:
Saturday Jun 26, 2010 at 3:44am
(The Red Spot transits about every 10 hours 56 minutes)
GRS longitude: 144.8º
Jupiter moons activity (during darkness):
None
On 6/25/2010 at
10:19:32pm Jupiter will be 32.3° below
the northeast horizon
(back to 'Quick
Links') |
|
|
Saturn data |
| |
|
Rises: |
12:52pm |
|
Transits: |
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 the 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° below
the southwest horizon
and will look like this in our telescopes at high power...
Note:
All graphics are correct-image representations. A telescope
will reverse this left-right and possibly invert up-down
depending on type of equipment being used.
(back to 'Quick
Links') |
|
|
Uranus data |
| |
|
Rises: |
1:07am - Jun 26 |
|
Transits: |
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 the 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
(back to 'Quick
Links') |
|
|
Neptune data |
| |
|
Rises: |
11:50pm |
|
Transits: |
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 the 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
(back to 'Quick
Links') |
|
|
Pluto
(Dwarf Planet aka Asteroid 134340)
data |
| |
|
Rises: |
8:27pm |
|
Transits: |
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 the 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
(back to 'Quick
Links') |
|
Inner Solar System
- the Sun, Mercury, Venus and Earth
(Created using
Software Bisque's
TheSky
software)
(back to 'Quick
Links')
Outer Solar System
- the Sun, Mars, Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto
(Created using
Software Bisque's
TheSky
software)
Notice that Pluto is exactly at
opposition today
(Friday June 25, 2010) at 2:59pm
(back to 'Quick
Links')
Click
HERE
for event status
Click
HERE
for a printer-friendly
version of the information on this page.
Click
HERE
for general Information you
should know about our events - Q&A of Where, When and What.
Click
HERE
for satellite passes this evening.
Very sincerely yours,
Dave Jessie
"Time spent observing the heavens is not deducted from your life span"
(back to 'Quick
Links')
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