Astronomical Observing from Fishcreek Observing Site - Friday 7/2/2010 at 10:18:23pm (nautical twilight). Sunset: 9:05pm Civil twilight ends: 9:36pm Nautical twilight ends: 10:18pm Astronomical twilight ends: 11:09pm Moon Phase: 64.26% illuminated (waning gibbous) Rise: 0:03am - Jul 3 Age: 20d 15h 7m since last New Moon Tonight, we have a bright gibbous Moon with us, but not until it clears the trees to the east of the observing field at 1:30am. This phase is great 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) will be available to us prior to that, however. Saturn will be beautiful with its rings still nearly edge-on and with five of its 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 should be visible this evening despite the brightening of the sky by the Moon. 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 We hope to see you here for a night under the stars - now in our fifteenth year! The following Sun, Moon and planet detail was calculated as it will be on Friday 7/2/2010 at 10:18:23pm (nautical twilight). Source: Guide8 software available from www.projectpluto.com ABOVE HORIZON: Object Mag Const Rise Set Venus -4.1 Leo 09:14 23:24 Mars 1.4 Leo 11:14 00:15 Saturn 1.1 Vir 12:27 00:55 Pluto 14.2 Sgr 19:59 05:56 BELOW HORIZON: Object Mag Const Rise Set Sun -26.7 Gem 05:53 21:05 Mercury -1.6 Gem 06:11 21:33 Jupiter -2.5 Psc 00:47 12:57 Uranus 5.8 Psc 00:40 12:47 Neptune 7.9 Aqr 23:22 10:04 Moon -10.6 Psc 00:03 12:58 Sun data: Rise: 5:53am Transit: 1:29pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Sets: 9:05pm Constellation: Gemini Distance: 1.01668247 AU = 152,093,533 km = 94,506,541 miles = 8.47 light-minutes Magnitude: -26.7 Apparent size: 31.46 arcminutes in angular diameter Civil twilight ends at: 9:36pm ( When the Sun is 6° below the horizon ) Nautical twilight ends at: 10:18pm ( When the Sun is 12° below the horizon ) Astronomical twilight ends at: 11:09pm ( 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 7/2/2010 at 10:18:23pm the Sun will be 12° below the northwest horizon Moon data: Rise: 0:03am - Jul 3 Transit: 6:26am - Jul 3 (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Sets: 12:58pm - Jul 3 Constellation: Pisces Phase: 64.26% illuminated (waning gibbous) Distance: 0.00271103 AU = 405,564 km = 252,006 miles = 1.35 light-seconds Magnitude: -10.6 Apparent size: 29.45 arcminutes in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 106.42° (morning sky) Age: 20d 15h 7m since last New Moon Prior Phase: Full Moon on Saturday Jun 26, 2010 at 7:30am Next Phase: Last Quarter on Sunday Jul 4, 2010 at 10:35am Next Lunar eclipse: Total eclipse (100%) on Sunday Sept 27, 2015 at 10:10pm EDT On 7/2/2010 at 10:18:23pm the Moon will be 20.3° below the east-northeast horizon Mercury data: Rise: 6:11am Transit: 1:52pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Sets: 9:33pm Constellation: Gemini Phase: 97.46% illuminated Distance: 1.31996163 AU = 197,463,449 km = 122,698,100 miles = 10.99 light-minutes Magnitude: -1.6 Apparent size: 5.10 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 5.77° (evening sky) Next maximum elongations... Evening: Saturday, August 7, 2010 (27° 22' 00") Morning: Sunday, September 19, 2010 (17° 52' 13") On 7/2/2010 at 10:18:23pm Mercury will be 7.8° below the west-northwest horizon Venus data: Rise: 9:14am Transit: 4:19pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Sets: 11:24pm Constellation: Leo Phase: 70.05% illuminated Distance: 1.06153818 AU = 158,803,852 km = 98,676,140 miles = 8.84 light-minutes Magnitude: -4.1 Apparent size: 15.72 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 40.59° (evening sky) Next maximum elongations... Evening: Friday, August 20, 2010 (45° 57' 59") Morning: Saturday, January 8, 2011 (46° 57' 24") On 7/2/2010 at 10:18:23pm Venus will be 10.7° above the west horizon Mars data: Rise: 11:14am Transit: 5:44pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Sets: 0:15am - Jul 3 Constellation: Leo Phase: 91.48% illuminated Distance: 1.80766078 AU = 270,422,203 km = 168,032,569 miles = 15.06 light-minutes Magnitude: 1.4 Apparent size: 5.18 arcseconds inangular diameter Elongation from Sun: 63.05° (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 7/2/2010 at 10:18:23pm Mars will be 20.8° 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/community/skyblog/observingblog/8708182.html http://www.snopes.com/science/astronomy/brightmars.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: 0:47am - Jul 3 Transit: 6:52am - Jul 3 (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Sets: 12:57pm - Jul 3 Constellation: Pisces Phase: 98.96% illuminated Distance: 4.71722891 AU = 705,687,400 km = 438,493,827 miles = 39.29 light-minutes Magnitude: -2.5 Apparent size: 41.79 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 98.35° (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 7/2/2010 at 10:18:23pm Jupiter will be 28.2° below the northeast horizon Next transit of the Great Red Spot: Saturday Jul 03, 2010 at 4:31am (The Red Spot transits about every 9 hours 56 minutes) GRS longitude: 144.9 Jupiter satellite events (during darkness): None Saturn data: Rise: 12:27pm Transit: 6:41pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Sets: 0:55am - Jul 3 Constellation: Virgo Phase: 99.73% illuminated Distance: 9.69523922 AU = 1,450,387,143 km = 901,228,800 miles = 1.35 light-hours Magnitude: 1.1 Apparent size: 17.14 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 77.69° (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 7/2/2010 at 10:18:23pm Saturn will be 27.9° above the southwest horizon Uranus data: Rise: 0:40am - Jul 3 Transit: 6:43am - Jul 3 (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Sets: 12:47pm - Jul 3 Constellation: Pisces Phase: 99.94% illuminated Distance: 19.88383283 AU = 2,974,579,052 km = 1,848,317,755 miles = 2.76 light-hours Magnitude: 5.8 Apparent size: 3.54 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 100.49° (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 7/2/2010 at 10:18:23pm Uranus will be 27° below the northeast horizon Neptune data: Rise: 11:22pm Transit: 4:43am - Jul 3 (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Sets: 10:04am - Jul 3 Constellation: Aquarius Phase: 99.98% illuminated Distance: 29.32115628 AU = 4,386,382,545 km = 2,725,571,786 miles = 4.07 light-hours Magnitude: 7.9 Apparent size: 2.33 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 132.65° (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 7/2/2010 at 10:18:23pm Neptune will be 13.1° below the east horizon Pluto (Dwarf Planet aka Asteroid 134340) data: Rise: 7:59pm Transit: 0:57am - Jul 3 (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Sets: 5:56am - Jul 3 Constellation: Sagittarius Phase: 100.00% illuminated Distance: 30.8535334 AU = 4,615,622,899 km = 2,868,015,139 miles = 4.28 light-hours Magnitude: 14.2 Apparent size: 0.11 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 171.21° (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 7/2/2010 at 10:18:23pm Pluto will be 20° 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