B.R.A.S. small web logoMonthly Observing Information

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This page provides charts, and text concerning what is visible in the night sky during the month noted. All information is for Baton Rouge, Louisiana, but they can still provide useful information for most other areas of the U.S.A. Sky charts, Saturn ring plane, and Venus phase images are for Midnight, on the 15th day of the month. Sky charts are 100 degree field of view, and show objects down to 12th magnitude. Times in the text information are in 24 hour format and have been adjusted for Daylight Savings Time. Subtract 12 hours from those over 12 to get the equivalent PM. RA and DEC given are for Epoch 2000.

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Current Moon phase & Galilean satellites

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Baton Rouge Clear Sky Clock
Click on image for more info and details. This clock is for the Baton Rouge area only.

Baton Rouge Clear Sky Clock

Kisatchie Clear Sky Clock
Click on image for more info and details. This clock is for the Kisatchie area only.

Kisatchie Clear Sky Clock

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May

Moon Calendar

Moon Calendar image

Sky charts

View/download sky chart north image View/download sky chart south image

View/download sky chart east image View/download sky chart west image

North South East West

Saturn's Ring Plane

Saturn ring plane image

Venus Phase

Venus phase image

Sun and Moon Rise and Set

  Date       Moonrise   Moonset   Sunrise   Sunset   Twilight  Twilight
------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- ---------
5/1/2008         03:39     15:47     06:21     19:43     04:53     21:11
5/2/2008         04:09     16:52     06:20     19:44     04:52     21:12
5/3/2008         04:42     18:00     06:19     19:45     04:51     21:13
5/4/2008         05:19     19:12     06:18     19:45     04:50     21:14
5/5/2008         06:01     20:26     06:17     19:46     04:49     21:15
5/6/2008         06:51     21:41     06:16     19:47     04:48     21:16
5/7/2008         07:49     22:50     06:16     19:47     04:47     21:17
5/8/2008         08:55     23:51     06:15     19:48     04:45     21:18
5/9/2008         10:05    ------     06:14     19:49     04:44     21:19
5/10/2008        11:14     00:41     06:13     19:49     04:43     21:20
5/11/2008        12:20     01:24     06:13     19:50     04:42     21:21
5/12/2008        13:22     01:59     06:12     19:51     04:41     21:21
5/13/2008        14:21     02:29     06:11     19:51     04:40     21:22
5/14/2008        15:17     02:58     06:11     19:52     04:40     21:23
5/15/2008        16:12     03:25     06:10     19:53     04:39     21:24
5/16/2008        17:08     03:52     06:09     19:53     04:38     21:25
5/17/2008        18:04     04:21     06:09     19:54     04:37     21:26
5/18/2008        19:01     04:52     06:08     19:54     04:36     21:27
5/19/2008        19:58     05:28     06:08     19:55     04:35     21:28
5/20/2008        20:54     06:08     06:07     19:56     04:34     21:29
5/21/2008        21:47     06:53     06:07     19:56     04:34     21:30
5/22/2008        22:36     07:44     06:06     19:57     04:33     21:31
5/23/2008        23:21     08:38     06:06     19:58     04:32     21:31
5/24/2008        24:00     09:36     06:05     19:58     04:32     21:32
5/25/2008       ------     10:35     06:05     19:59     04:31     21:33
5/26/2008        00:35     11:34     06:05     19:59     04:30     21:34
5/27/2008        01:07     12:33     06:04     20:00     04:30     21:35
5/28/2008        01:37     13:33     06:04     20:00     04:29     21:35
5/29/2008        02:07     14:34     06:04     20:01     04:29     21:36
5/30/2008        02:38     15:39     06:03     20:02     04:28     21:37
5/31/2008        03:11     16:47     06:03     20:02     04:28     21:38

Information and images in this section from The Sky6 Professional

Solar System Information

              Planet View Info Report for  5/ 1/2008 to  5/31/2008

                                    Mercury

Date       Rise  Set     RA         Dec         Elongation   Ill Fr  DIST(AU)

 5/ 1/2008  7:09 21:05    3h36m01s   21°12'55"   15°51'52"   0.753    1.13127
 5/ 8/2008  7:20 21:30    4h23m34s   24°04'31"   20°26'27"   0.538    0.97252
 5/15/2008  7:24 21:38    4h58m56s   25°03'49"   21°45'53"   0.347    0.81848
 5/22/2008  7:17 21:26    5h19m00s   24°34'02"   19°27'06"   0.191    0.68938
 5/29/2008  6:57 20:54    5h22m18s   22°58'50"   13°19'27"   0.071    0.59742

                                     Venus

Date       Rise  Set     RA         Dec         Elongation   Ill Fr  DIST(AU)

 5/ 1/2008  5:55 18:53    1h55m31s   10°28'23"   10°31'53"   0.984    1.69236
 5/ 8/2008  5:53 19:06    2h28m31s   13°30'29"    8°41'30"   0.989    1.70611
 5/15/2008  5:52 19:19    3h02m16s   16°16'39"    6°49'48"   0.993    1.71731
 5/22/2008  5:53 19:32    3h36m55s   18°42'45"    4°56'51"   0.996    1.72593
 5/29/2008  5:55 19:46    4h12m27s   20°44'46"    3°02'53"   0.999    1.73190

                                      Mars

Date       Rise  Set     RA         Dec         Elongation   Ill Fr  DIST(AU)

 5/ 1/2008 11:17  1:18    7h50m39s   22°54'00"   74°20'23"   0.906    1.62539
 5/ 8/2008 11:07  1:04    8h06m12s   22°05'12"   71°14'26"   0.910    1.68900
 5/15/2008 10:58  0:49    8h21m55s   21°10'25"   68°14'42"   0.913    1.75084
 5/22/2008 10:49  0:35    8h37m44s   20°09'48"   65°20'28"   0.917    1.81078
 5/29/2008 10:40  0:20    8h53m35s   19°03'28"   62°30'56"   0.921    1.86874

                                    Jupiter

Date       Rise  Set     RA         Dec         Elongation   Ill Fr  DIST(AU)

 5/ 1/2008  0:54 11:10   19h36m26s  -21°37'24"  108°41'21"   0.992    4.79124
 5/ 8/2008  0:27 10:43   19h36m55s  -21°37'13"  115°21'47"   0.992    4.68689
 5/15/2008 23:55 10:15   19h36m45s  -21°38'34"  122°10'03"   0.993    4.58817
 5/22/2008 23:27  9:47   19h35m56s  -21°41'27"  129°06'07"   0.994    4.49652
 5/29/2008 22:58  9:18   19h34m29s  -21°45'46"  136°10'07"   0.995    4.41331

                                     Saturn

Date       Rise  Set     RA         Dec         Elongation   Ill Fr  DIST(AU)

 5/ 1/2008 14:10  3:17   10h17m56s   12°30'52"  110°48'02"   0.997    8.89658
 5/ 8/2008 13:42  2:49   10h17m58s   12°29'45"  104°02'08"   0.997    9.00771
 5/15/2008 13:15  2:22   10h18m20s   12°26'44"   97°22'51"   0.997    9.12213
 5/22/2008 12:49  1:55   10h19m02s   12°21'54"   90°49'59"   0.997    9.23820
 5/29/2008 12:22  1:28   10h20m02s   12°15'20"   84°22'59"   0.997    9.35449

                                     Uranus

Date       Rise  Set     RA         Dec         Elongation   Ill Fr  DIST(AU)

 5/ 1/2008  4:03 15:47   23h29m35s   -4°05'44"   49°36'07"   1.000   20.73696
 5/ 8/2008  3:36 15:21   23h30m37s   -3°59'21"   56°06'36"   1.000   20.64400
 5/15/2008  3:09 14:54   23h31m32s   -3°53'43"   62°37'28"   1.000   20.54351
 5/22/2008  2:42 14:28   23h32m19s   -3°48'52"   69°08'56"   0.999   20.43685
 5/29/2008  2:15 14:01   23h32m59s   -3°44'51"   75°41'30"   0.999   20.32537

                                    Neptune

Date       Rise  Set     RA         Dec         Elongation   Ill Fr  DIST(AU)

 5/ 1/2008  2:43 13:40   21h46m01s  -13°47'35"   76°55'07"   1.000   30.25196
 5/ 8/2008  2:16 13:13   21h46m21s  -13°46'03"   83°37'13"   1.000   30.13518
 5/15/2008  1:48 12:46   21h46m34s  -13°45'02"   90°19'27"   1.000   30.01688
 5/22/2008  1:21 12:18   21h46m42s  -13°44'34"   97°01'54"   1.000   29.89871
 5/29/2008  0:53 11:51   21h46m43s  -13°44'37"  103°44'58"   1.000   29.78223


                         Planet Apsides Report for 2008

Mars
   5/12/2008  Aphelion     Distance from Sun:   1.67 AU

   
                               Planet Data Report

Planet       Mean Dist   Period of          Inclination     Equatorial
             From Sun    Revolution                         Diameter
             (AU)                                           (km)

Mercury       0.39        88    days         7°               4880
Venus         0.72       224.7  days         3.4°            12100
Earth         1.00       365.24 days         0°              12756
Mars          1.52       687    days         1.9°             6794
Jupiter       5.20        11.86 years        1.3°           143200
Saturn        9.54        29.46 years        2.5°           120000
Uranus       19.18        84    years        0.8°            52290
Neptune      30.06       165    years        1.8°            50450


                Moon Apsides Report for  5/ 1/2008 to  5/31/2008

Date          Hour    Apsis      Distance (km)    Diameter

 5/ 5/2008    22      Perigee    357789           0.5566°
 5/20/2008    10      Apogee     406385           0.4901°

 
                 Moon Nodes Report for  5/ 1/2008 to  5/31/2008

Date          Time     Node          Illuminated Fraction

 5/12/2008     1:36    Descending    0.49
 5/26/2008    16:44    Ascending     0.65

 
               Meteor Showers Report for  5/ 1/2008 to  5/31/2008

Date        Meteor Shower       ZHR  RA      DEC   Illum. Frac.  Longitude

 5/ 4/2008  eta-Aquarids        35   22h20m   -1°  0.01           45°
 5/11/2008  alpha-Scorpiids      5   16h04m  -24°  0.46           52°

Information for this section is from Astronomy Lab 2.03

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Last updated on Friday, May 02, 2008 9:39:13 AM