Astronomical Observing from the ACA Observatory
Saturday, 4/17/2010 at 8:30pm
Observe galaxies in the Virgo Cluster and the most distant
object within reach of
our observatory telescope...
Quasar 3C273 at a distance of 2.4
billion light-years!
Sunset: 8:11pm
Civil twilight ends: 8:37pm
Nautical twilight ends: 9:11pm
Astronomical twilight ends: 9:48pm
Moon Phase: 12.88% illuminated (waxing crescent)
Rise: 8:12am
Age: 3d 12h 43m since last New Moon
All times are shown in EDT (Eastern Daylight Time (UT-4)) as seen from Akron, Ohio
Longitude: W 81 33' 39.0"
Latitude: N40 58' 11.3"
Altitude: 314m
The following Sun, Moon and planet detail was calculated as it will be on Saturday 4/17/2010
at 9:11:25pm - the time of nautical twilight - when the Sun is 12° below the horizon.
Data source: Guide8 software available from www.projectpluto.com
ABOVE HORIZON:
Object Mag Const Rise Set
Mercury 2.0 Ari 07:07 21:32
Venus -3.9 Ari 07:44 22:10
Mars 0.5 Cnc 13:02 03:47
Saturn 0.7 Vir 17:29 05:57
Moon -7.8 Tau 08:12 00:00
BELOW HORIZON:
Object Mag Const Rise Set
Sun -26.7 Psc 06:41 20:11
Jupiter -2.1 Aqr 05:22 17:01
Uranus 5.9 Psc 05:38 17:38
Neptune 7.9 Aqr 04:25 15:06
Pluto 14.2 Sgr 01:03 11:02
Sun data:
Rise: 6:41am
Transit: 1:25pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South)
Set: 8:11pm
Constellation: Pisces
Distance: 1.00401689 AU = 150,198,789 km = 93,329,202 miles = 8.36 light-minutes
Magnitude: -26.7
Apparent size: 31.86 arcminutes in angular diameter
Civil twilight ends at: 8:37pm ( When the Sun is 6° below the horizon )
Nautical twilight ends at: 9:11pm ( When the Sun is 12° below the horizon )
Astronomical twilight ends at: 9:48pm ( When the Sun is 18° below the horizon )
Spring began at the Vernal Equinox which occurred on Saturday Mar 20, 2010 at 1:33pm
Summer begins at the Summer Solstice which will occur on Monday Jun 21, 2010 at 7:29am
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 4/17/2010 at 9:11:25pm the Sun will be 12° below the west-northwest horizon
Moon data:
Rise: 8:12am
Transit: 4:04pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South)
Set: 0:00am - Apr 18
Constellation: Taurus
Phase: 12.88% illuminated (waxing crescent)
Distance: 0.00252676 AU = 377,998 km = 234,877 miles = 1.26 light-seconds
Magnitude: -7.8
Apparent size: 31.60 arcminutes in angular diameter
Elongation from Sun: 41.97° (morning sky)
Age: 3d 12h 43m since last New Moon
Prior Phase: New Moon on Wednesday Apr 14, 2010 at 8:29am
Next Phase: First Quarter on Wednesday Apr 21, 2010 at 2:20pm
Next Lunar eclipse: Total eclipse (100%) on Sunday Sept 27, 2015 at 10:10pm EDT
On 4/17/2010 at 9:11:25pm the Moon will be 27° above the west horizon
The Moon will appear like this:
Note: Computer-generated graphic of the Moon was created to 1/30 scale, compared to planet images, to fit on this page
Mercury data:
Rise: 7:07am
Transit: 2:20pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South)
Set: 9:32pm
Constellation: Aries
Phase: 12.74% illuminated
Distance: .67938512 AU = 101,634,567 km = 63,152,793 miles = 5.66 light-minutes
Magnitude: 2.0
Apparent size: 9.90 arcseconds in angular diameter
Elongation from Sun: 15.00° (evening sky)
Next maximum elongations...
Morning: Wednesday, May 26, 2010 (25° 07' 48")
Evening: Saturday, August 7, 2010 (27° 22' 00")
On 4/17/2010 at 9:11:25pm Mercury will be 2.6° above the west horizon
and will look like this:
Note: All computer-generated graphics of planets are created to the same scale, except the Moon & Saturn
Venus data:
Rise: 7:44am
Transit: 2:56pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South)
Set: 10:10pm
Constellation: Aries
Phase: 91.67% illuminated
Distance: 1.52172207 AU = 227,646,381 km = 141,452,905 miles = 12.67 light-minutes
Magnitude: -3.9
Apparent size: 10.97 arcseconds in angular diameter
Elongation from Sun: 23.35° (evening sky)
Next maximum elongations...
Evening: Friday, August 20, 2010 (45° 57' 59")
Morning: Saturday, January 8, 2011 (46° 57' 24")
On 4/17/2010 at 9:11:25pm Venus will be 9.3° above the west horizon
and will look like this:
Note: All computer-generated graphics of planets are created to the same scale, except the Moon & Saturn
Mars data:
Rise: 1:02pm
Transit: 8:25pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South)
Set: 3:47am - Apr 18
Constellation: Cancer
Phase: 90.20% illuminated
Distance: 1.16848228 AU = 174,802,461 km = 108,617,215 miles = 9.73 light-minutes
Magnitude: 0.5
Apparent size: 8.01 arcseconds inangular diameter
Elongation from Sun: 99.73° (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.
No, Mars was *not* "...as big as a Full Moon on August 27!"
Please click the following links for more information about this annual 'Mars Hoax'
Sky&Telescope
Snopes
Hoax-Slayer
UniverseToday
On 4/17/2010 at 9:11:25pm Mars will be 67.4° above the south-southwest horizon
and will look like this:
Note: All computer-generated graphics of planets are created to the same scale, except the Moon & Saturn
Jupiter data:
Rise: 5:22am
Transit: 11:12am (Time of highest position in the sky, due South)
Set: 5:01pm
Constellation: Aquarius
Phase: 99.63% illuminated
Distance: 5.74744372 AU = 859,805,342 km = 534,258,277 miles = 47.87 light-minutes
Magnitude: -2.1
Apparent size: 34.30 arcseconds in angular diameter
Elongation from Sun: 36.85° (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
Next transit of the Great Red Spot: Sunday Apr 18, 2010 at 1:33am (The Red Spot transits about every 10 hours 56 minutes)
GRS longitude: 143.4
Jupiter satellite events (during darkness): None
On 4/17/2010 at 9:11:25pm Jupiter will be 44.7° below the northwest horizon
Saturn data:
Rise: 5:29pm
Transit: 11:43pm (Time of highest position in the sky, due South)
Set: 5:57am - Apr 18
Constellation: Virgo
Phase: 99.94% illuminated
Distance: 8.61468392 AU = 1,288,738,371 km = 800,784,908 miles = 1.2 light-hours
Magnitude: 0.7
Apparent size: 19.29 arcseconds in angular diameter
Elongation from Sun: 151.27° (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 4/17/2010 at 9:11:25pm Saturn will be 38.6° above the east-southeast horizon
and will appear like this:
Note: Computer-generated graphic of Saturn was created to 1/2 scale so the moons would fit on this page
Uranus data:
Rise: 5:38am
Transit: 11:38am (Time of highest position in the sky, due South)
Set: 5:38pm
Constellation: Pisces
Phase: 99.98% illuminated
Distance: 20.962259 AU = 3,135,909,311 km = 1,948,563,732 miles = 2.91 light-hours
Magnitude: 5.9
Apparent size: 3.36 arcseconds in angular diameter
Elongation from Sun: 29.59° (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 4/17/2010 at 9:11:25pm Uranus will be 38.5° below the west-northwest horizon
Neptune data:
Rise: 4:25am
Transit: 9:45am (Time of highest position in the sky, due South)
Set: 3:06pm
Constellation: Aquarius
Phase: 99.98% illuminated
Distance: 30.51523308 AU = 4,565,013,892 km = 2,836,568,160 miles = 4.24 light-hours
Magnitude: 7.9
Apparent size: 2.24 arcseconds in angular diameter
Elongation from Sun: 59.72° (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 4/17/2010 at 9:11:25pm Neptune will be 60.7° below the north-northwest horizon
Pluto data: (Dwarf Planet aka Asteroid 134340)
Rise: 1:03am - Apr 18
Transit: 6:03am - Apr 18 (Time of highest position in the sky, due South)
Set: 11:02am - Apr 18
Constellation: Sagittarius
Phase: 99.98% illuminated
Distance: 31.42201048 AU = 4,700,665,860 km = 2,920,858,386 miles = 4.36 light-hours
Magnitude: 14.2
Apparent size: 0.10 arcseconds in angular diameter
Elongation from Sun: 112.43° (morning sky)
Dates of Opposition (when Pluto is closest to Earth)
Previous: Tuesday Jun 23, 2009 at 3:49am
Next: Friday Jun 25, 2010 at 2:59pm
On 4/17/2010 at 9:11:25pm Pluto will be 44.2° below the east-northeast horizon
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