Astronomical Observing at Fishcreek - Friday 05/16/2008 Tonight's event will be limited by a nearly Full Moon setting at 4:27am Saturday morning. Planet-wise, we'll have a last chance to catch fleeting Mercury in the west before it gets lost in the glare of the Sun. We'll also see beautiful planet Saturn, colorful double stars, open clusters made up of hundreds of stars, globular clusters comprised of hundreds of thousands of stars. Unfortunately, the planetary nebula formed by dying stars, diffuse nebula and emission nebula where stars are being born, and galaxies will be rendered invisible to us by the brightness of the full Moon. 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! We hope to see you here for a night under the stars - now in our thirteenth year! The following Sun, Moon and planet detail was calculated as it will be on Friday 5/16/08 at 9:49:44pm (nautical twilight). Source: Guide8 software available from www.projectpluto.com All times are shown in EDT (Eastern Daylight Time) as seen from Stow, Ohio. Above Horizon: Mercury Moon (sets at 4:27am Saturday) Mars Saturn Below Horizon: Sun Venus Jupiter Uranus Neptune Pluto Sun data: Rise 6:02am Transit: 1:22pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Sets 8:42pm Constellation: Taurus Distance: 1.01135204 AU = 151,296,112 km = 94,011,047 miles = 8.42 light-minutes Magnitude: -26.7 Apparent size: 31.63 arcminutes in angular diameter Civil twilight ends at 9:10pm ( When the Sun is 6 degrees below the horizon ) Nautical twilight ends at 9:50pm ( When the Sun is 12 degrees below the horizon ) Astronomical twilight ends at 10:34pm ( When the Sun is 18 degrees below the horizon ) Summer Solstice: Friday Jun 20, 2008 at 8:00pm (when winter will officially be here) Next Solar Eclipse: Partial eclipse (>80%) on Monday August 21, 2017 2:30pm EDT At 9:49:44pm the Sun will be 12º below the west-northwest horizon Moon data: Rise 5:39pm Transit: 11:07pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Sets 4:27am May 17 Constellation: Virgo Phase: 91.97% illuminated (waxing gibbous) 11.56 days since last New Moon Distance: 0.00266578 AU = 398,795 km = 247,800 miles = 1.33 light-seconds Magnitude: -11.8 Apparent size: 29.95 arcminutes in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 147.00 degrees (evening sky) Next Phase: Full Moon on Monday May 19, 2008 at 11:11pm Next Lunar eclipse: Total eclipse (100%) on Sunday Sept 27, 2015 at 10:10pm EDT At 9:49:44pm the Moon will be 32.2º above the south-southeast horizon Mercury data: Rise: 7:08am Transit: 2:51pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Sets: 10:35pm Constellation: Taurus Phase: 29.74% illuminated Distance: 0.77707691 AU = 116,249,051 km = 72,233,812 miles = 6.47 light-minutes Magnitude: 0.8 Apparent size: 8.66 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 21.48 degrees (evening sky) Next maximum elongations... Morning: Tuesday, July 01, 2008 (21° 47' 03") Evening: Thursday, September 11, 2008 (26° 52' 17") At 9:49:44pm Mercury will be 6.2º above the west-northwest horizon Venus data: Rise: 5:49am Transit 12:57pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Set: 8:06pm Constellation: Aries Phase: 99.41% illuminated Distance: 1.72010277 AU = 257,323,712 km = 159,893,544 miles = 14.33 light-minutes Magnitude: -3.9 Bright, visible in the morning well before sunrise Apparent size: 9.70 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 6.28 degrees (morning sky) Next maximum elongations... Evening: Wednesday, January 14, 2009 (47° 07' 21") Morning: Friday, June 05, 2009 (45° 51' 07") At 9:49:44pm Venus will be 17.4º below the west-northwest horizon Mars data: Rise: 10:47am Transit 6:12pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Set: 1:36am May 17 Constellation: Cancer Phase: 91.41% illuminated Distance: 1.76884324 AU = 264,615,182 km = 164,424,253 miles = 14.73 light-minutes Magnitude: 1.4 Apparent size: 5.29 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 67.37 degrees (evening sky) Next close approach of Mars is on Friday, Jan 29, 2010 At 9:49:44pm Mars will be 40º 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: 0:35am May 17 Transit 5:20am May 17 (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Set: 10:05am May 17 Constellation: Sagittarius Phase: 99.35% illuminated Distance: 4.56039988 AU = 682,226,112 km = 423,915,658 miles = 37.99 light-minutes Magnitude: -2.5 Apparent size: 43.23 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 124.27 degrees (morning sky) At 9:49:44pm Jupiter will be 31º below the east horizon No Jupiter satellite events tonight Next transit of the Great Red Spot: Saturday May 17, 2008 at 5:14am GRS longitude: 122.4 Saturn data: Rise: 1:13pm Transit 8:03pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Set: 2:53am May 17 Constellation: Leo Phase: 99.71% illuminated Distance: 9.15464907 AU = 1,369,516,008 km = 850,977,805 miles = 1.27 light-hours Magnitude: 0.6 Apparent size: 18.15 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 95.30 degrees (evening sky) At 9:49:44pm Saturn will be 53º above the southwest horizon Uranus data: Rise: 3:23am May 17 Transit 9:15am May 17 (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Set: 3:06pm May 17 Constellation: Aquarius Phase: 99.95% illuminated Distance: 20.51100154 AU = 3,068,402,156 km = 1,906,616,730 miles = 2.85 light-hours Magnitude: 5.9 Apparent size: 3.44 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 64.55 degrees (morning sky) At 9:49:44pm Uranus will be 52º below the north horizon Neptune data: Rise: 2:14am May 17 Transit: 7:30am May 17 (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Set: 12:46pm May 17 Constellation: Capricornus Phase: 99.97% illuminated Distance: 29.98150598 AU = 4,485,169,455 km = 2,786,955,126 miles = 4.16 light-hours Magnitude: 7.9 Apparent size: 2.28 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 92.32 degrees (morning sky) At 9:49:44pm Neptune will be 49.4º below the northeast horizon Pluto (Dwarf Planet aka Asteroid 134340) data: Rise: 10:43pm Transit 3:46am May 17 (Time of highest position in the sky, due South) Set: 8:50am May 17 Constellation: Sagittarius Phase: 99.99% illuminated Distance: 30.62476475 AU = 4,581,399,597 km = 2,846,749,765 miles = 4.25 light-hours Magnitude: 14.1 Apparent size: 0.11 arcseconds in angular diameter Elongation from Sun: 145.36 degrees (morning sky) At 9:49:44pm Pluto will be 10.8º below the east horizon