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Astronomical Observing at Fishcreek - Friday
5/2/2008
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Event report:
Heavy cloud cover and high probability of rain prevented this event from taking place. |
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Tonight's
event will feature a Moonless sky
for us since it sets at 5:20pm this afternoon and won't rise until 4:48am
Saturday.
We'll have the beautiful planet
Saturn,
colorful double
stars,
open clusters made up of hundreds of stars,
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 galore in
the Virgo Galaxy Cluster will all be available to
us the entire night. Springtime is the best time to observe galaxies since the
Milky Way,
the galaxy in which we live, is not directly
overhead. We're able to look out to the universe and not be blocked by the
dust and gas in our own galaxy. Also, Saturn is beautiful beyond words!
If you've never seen Saturn through a telescope, you owe it to yourself to do
so. It's said that one picture is worth a thousand words, but no picture
can match the majesty of the real thing!
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 fourteenth year!
For observing conditions at our site, please click on the link below:
ClearSkyClock for Fishcreek Site
(the darker blue the squares are, the better)
Quick links:
Inner Solar System
Outer Solar System
General Information about our events
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Sun data |
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Rises: |
6: |
18am |
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Transits:
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1: |
22pm - Time of highest
position in the sky, due South |
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Sets:
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8: |
27pm |
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Constellation: |
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Aries |
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Distance: |
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1.00818185 AU =
150,821,858 km = 93,716,359 miles = 8.4
light-minutes |
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Magnitude: |
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-26.7 |
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Apparent size: |
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31.73 arcminutes in angular diameter |
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Twilight ends... |
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Civil: |
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8:55pm
- Sun is
6° below the horizon |
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Nautical: |
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9:32pm - Sun is 12° below the
horizon |
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Astronomical: |
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10:12pm - Sun is 18° below the
horizon |
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Summer Solstice: |
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Friday Jun 20, 2008 at 8:00pm
(when summer will
officially be here) |
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)
At 9:32pm the Sun will be 12º below
the west-northwest horizon
(back to 'Quick Links') |
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Moon data |
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Rises: |
4: |
24am May 3 |
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Transits:
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10: |
45am May 3 - Time of highest
position in the sky, due South |
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Sets:
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5: |
20pm May 3 |
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Constellation: |
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Taurus |
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Phase: |
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9.03% illuminated
(waning crescent) |
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Distance: |
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0.00247421 AU =
370,136 km = 229,992 miles = 1.24 light-seconds |
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Magnitude: |
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-7.3 |
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Apparent size: |
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32.27 arcminutes
in
angular diameter |
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Elongation from Sun: |
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34.89 degrees
(morning sky) |
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Age: |
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26.90 days
since last
New Moon |
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Next Phase: |
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New Moon on Monday
May 5, 2008 at 8:18am |
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Next Lunar eclipse: |
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Total eclipse (100%)
on Sunday Sept 27, 2015 at 10:10pm EDT |
At 9:32pm the Moon will be 38.1º
below the northwest horizon
but will look like this after it clears the trees at 5:00am
Saturday morning...
(back to 'Quick
Links') |
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Mercury data |
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Rises: |
6: |
59am |
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Transits:
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2: |
30pm - Time of highest
position in the sky, due South |
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Sets:
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10: |
02pm |
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Constellation: |
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Taurus |
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Phase: |
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68.98% illuminated |
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Distance: |
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1.08595197 AU =
162,456,102 km = 100,945,543 miles = 9.05
light-minutes |
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Magnitude: |
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-0.7 |
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Apparent size: |
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6.19 arcseconds
in angular diameter |
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Elongation from Sun: |
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17.52 degrees
(evening sky) |
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Next maximum elongations... |
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Evening: |
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Wednesday, May 14,
2008 (21° 47' 34") |
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Morning: |
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Tuesday, July 01,
2008 (21° 47' 03") |
At 9:32pm Mercury will be 3.9º
above the west-northwest
horizon
(back to 'Quick
Links') |
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Venus data |
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Rises: |
5: |
59am |
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Transits:
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12: |
45am - Time of highest position in the sky,
due South |
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Sets:
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7: |
32pm |
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Constellation: |
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Aries |
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Phase: |
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98.52% illuminated |
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Distance: |
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1.69663303 AU =
253,812,689 km = 157,711,895 miles = 14.13
light-minutes |
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Magnitude: |
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-3.9
(bright, but lost in the glare
of the rising Sun) |
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Apparent size: |
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9.83 arcseconds in
angular diameter |
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Elongation from Sun: |
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10.00 degrees
(morning sky) |
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Next maximum elongations... |
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Evening: |
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Wednesday 1/14/2009
(47° 07' 21") |
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Morning: |
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Friday 6/05/2009
(45° 51' 07") |
At 9:32pm Venus will be 21º
below the west-northwest
horizon
(back to 'Quick
Links') |
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Mars data |
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Rises: |
11: |
03am |
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Transits:
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6: |
35pm
- Time of highest position in the sky,
due South |
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Sets:
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2: |
08am May 3 |
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Constellation: |
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Gemini |
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Phase: |
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90.73% illuminated |
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Distance: |
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1.64431335 AU =
245,985,776 km = 152,848,477 miles = 13.7
light-minutes |
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Magnitude: |
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1.2
(getting dimmer) |
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Apparent size: |
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5.69 arcseconds
in angular diameter (getting
smaller) |
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Elongation from Sun: |
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73.41 degrees
(evening sky) |
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Next
close approach: |
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Friday, Jan 29, 2010 |
At 9:32pm Mars will be 48.9º
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'
Sky & Telescope article
Snopes.com article
Hoax-slayer article
Universe Today article
(back to 'Quick
Links') |
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Jupiter data |
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Rises: |
1: |
30am May 3 |
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Transits:
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6: |
15am May 3 - Time of highest
position in the sky, due South |
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Sets:
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11: |
00am May 3 |
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Constellation: |
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Sagittarius |
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Phase: |
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99.17% illuminated |
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Distance: |
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4.76014313 AU =
712,107,276 km = 442,482,953 miles = 39.65
light-minutes |
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Magnitude: |
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-2.4 |
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Apparent size: |
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41.42 arcseconds
in angular diameter |
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Elongation from Sun: |
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110.70 degrees
(morning sky) |
At 9:32pm Jupiter will be 44.8º below
the east-northeast horizon
Next transit of the Great Red Spot:
Saturday May 3, 2008 at 3:42am
GRS longitude: 122.0º
Jupiter moons activity:
None tonight. Positions of the moons
will change very little during the course of the night.
(back to 'Quick
Links') |
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Saturn data |
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Rises: |
2: |
07pm |
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Transits:
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8: |
57pm - Time of highest position in the sky,
due South |
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Sets:
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3: |
48am May 3 |
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Constellation: |
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Leo |
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Phase: |
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99.74% illuminated |
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Distance: |
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8.92709194 AU =
1,335,473,945 km = 829,825,048 miles = 1.24
light-hours |
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Magnitude: |
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0.6 |
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Apparent size: |
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18.62 arcseconds
in angular diameter |
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Elongation from Sun: |
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108.67 degrees (evening sky) |
At 9:32pm Saturn will be 60.4º
above the south horizon
Below is an animation of Saturn and six
of its brightest moons. It begins at 9:00:00pm EDT and
runs until 3:00am Saturday. You can read the
altitude and azimuth in the caption below Saturn.
This image is neither inverted nor reversed
- Saturn would look like this in a non-inverting telescope.
Frames are 15 minutes apart.
'Alt' means number of degrees above the horizon,
'Az' means number of degrees of azimuth where 0 is north, 90 is
east, 180 is south and 270 is west
(back to 'Quick
Links') |
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Uranus data |
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Rises: |
4: |
21am |
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Transits:
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10: |
12am - Time of highest position in the sky,
due South |
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Sets:
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4: |
03pm |
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Constellation: |
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Aquarius |
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Phase: |
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99.96% illuminated |
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Distance: |
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20.70896234 AU =
3,098,016,670 km = 1,925,018,336 miles = 2.87 light-hourss |
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Magnitude: |
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5.9 |
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Apparent size: |
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3.40 arcseconds
in angular diameter |
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Elongation from Sun: |
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51.52 degrees
(morning sky) |
At 9:32pm Uranus will be 51.9º
below the north-northwest
horizon
(back to 'Quick
Links') |
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Neptune data |
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Rises: |
3: |
08am May 3 |
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Transits:
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8: |
24am May 3 - Time of highest position in the sky,
due South |
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Sets:
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1: |
40pm May 3 |
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Constellation: |
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Capricornus |
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Phase: |
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99.97% illuminated |
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Distance: |
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30.21755925 AU =
4,520,482,521 km = 2,808,897,649 miles = 4.19
light-hours |
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Magnitude: |
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7.9 |
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Apparent size: |
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2.26 arcseconds in
angular diameter |
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Elongation from Sun: |
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78.90 degrees
(morning sky) |
At 9:32pm Neptune will be 59.2º
below the north-northeast
horizon
(back to 'Quick
Links') |
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Pluto
(Dwarf Planet aka Asteroid 134340)
data |
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Rises: |
11: |
39pm |
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Transits:
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4: |
42am May 3 - Time of highest position in the sky,
due South |
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Sets:
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9: |
36am May 3 |
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Constellation: |
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Sagittarius |
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Phase: |
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99.99% illuminated |
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Distance: |
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30.77459521 AU =
4,603,813,914 km = 2,860,677,376 miles = 4.27
light-hours |
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Magnitude: |
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14.1 |
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Apparent size: |
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0.11 arcseconds
in angular diameter |
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Elongation from Sun: |
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131.77 degrees
(morning sky) |
At 9:32pm Pluto will be 24.6º below
the east horizon
(back to 'Quick
Links') |
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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)
(back to 'Quick
Links')
General Information you
should know about our events - Q&A of Where, When and What
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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