FCPS Planetaria 1998 Astronomical Calendar - Page 1

Table 1.0 - SEASONS
SEASON DATE TIME SUN'S MAX. ALT.
SPRING EQUINOX 03/20/98 02:56 PM 51.0° ALTITUDE
SUMMER SOLSTICE 06/21/98 10:04 AM 74.5° ALTITUDE
FALL EQUINOX 09/23/98 01:38 AM 51.0° ALTITUDE
WINTER SOLSTICE 12/21/98 20:58 PM 27.5° ALTITUDE

Table 2.0 - 1998 PHASES OF THE MOON
MOON PHASE NEW MOON
RISES AT SUNRISE;
SETS AT SUNSET		 1ST QUARTER
RISES AT NOON;
SETS AT MIDNIGHT
(WAXING = INCREASING BRIGHTNESS)		 FULL MOON
RISES AT SUNSET;
SETS AT SUNRISE		 3RD QUARTER
RISES AT MIDNIGHT;
SETS AT NOON
(WANING = DECREASING BRIGHTNESS)

  Jan 05 WAXING Jan 12 Jan 20 WANING

Jan 28 Feb 03 WAXING Feb 11 Feb 19 WANING
  Feb 26 Mar 05 WAXING Mar 13 Mar 21 WANING
  Mar 27 Apr 03 WAXING Apr 11 Apr 19 WANING
  Apr 26 May 03 WAXING May 11 May 18 WANING

May 25 Jun 01 WAXING Jun 10 Jun 17 WANING

Jun 23 Jul 01 WAXING Jul 09 Jul 16 WANING

Jul 23 Jul 31 WAXING Aug 07 Aug 14 WANING

Aug 21 Aug 30 WAXING Sep 06 Sep 12 WANING

Sep 20 Sep 28 WAXING Oct 05 Oct 12 WANING
  Oct 20 Oct 28 WAXING Nov 04 Nov 10 WANING
  Nov 18 Nov 26 WAXING Dec 03 Dec 10 WANING

Dec 18 Dec 26 WAXING    
NEXT BLUE MOON WILL BE JAN. 1999

Table 3.0 - LARGEST MOONS IN THE SOLAR SYSTEM
NAME PLANET DIAMETER REMARKS
GANYMEDE JUPITER 5262 KM DISCOVERED BY GALILEO IN 1610
TITAN SATURN 5150 KM MOON WITH THICKEST ATMOSPHERE
CALLISTO JUPITER 4800 KM MOST HEAVILY CRATERED GALILEAN MOON
IO JUPITER 3630 KM MOON WITH ACTIVE VOLCANOES
EARTH'S MOON EARTH 3476 KM 1969 - FIRST U.S. ASTRONAUTS LANDED

Table 4.0 - USE THE MOON TO FIND THE PLANETS IN 1998
THE MOON IS CLOSE TO THE FOLLOWING PLANETS ON THE DATES LISTED
MERCURY VENUS MARS JUPITER SATURN
  NOT VISIBLE Jan 29 evening Jan 01 evening Jan 05 evening
  Feb 23 morning NOT VISIBLE NOT VISIBLE Feb 01 evening
  Mar 24 morning NOT VISIBLE NOT VISIBLE Mar 01 evening
  Apr 23 morning NOT VISIBLE Apr 23 morning NOT VISIBLE
  May 22 morning NOT VISIBLE May 21 morning May 23 morning
  Jun 21 morning NOT VISIBLE Jun 17 morning Jun 19 morning
  Jul 21 morning NOT VISIBLE Jul 14 morning Jul 17 morning
  NOT VISIBLE Aug 19 morning Aug 11 morning Aug 13 morning
  NOT VISIBLE Sep 17 morning Sep 06 evening Sep 09 morning
  NOT VISIBLE Oct 16 morning Oct 03,31 evening Oct 07 morning
  NOT VISIBLE Nov 13 morning Nov 27 evening Nov 03,30 morning
Dec 16 morning NOT VISIBLE Dec 12 morning Dec 24 evening Dec 27 evening

Table 5.0 - 1998 MAJOR METEOR SHOWERS
SHOWER NAME DATE OF MAXIMUM HOURLY RATE CONSTELLATION SPEED AND SOURCE
QUADRANTIDS Jan 03 MORNING 40-90+ Bootes 3
LYRIDS Apr 22 NIGHT• 10-15 Hercules 2 - COMET THATCHER
ETA AQUARIDS May 05 MORNING 20 Aquarius 1 - COMET HALLEY
DELTA AQUARIDS Jul 28 MORNING 15-20 Aquarius 3
PERSEIDS Aug 12 NIGHT• 50 Cassiopeia 2 - COMET SWIFT-TUTTLE
ORIONIDS Oct 22 MORNING 25 Orion 1 - COMET HALLEY
SOUTH TAURIDS Nov 03 MORNING• <15 Taurus 4 - COMET ENCKE
LEONIDS Nov 17 MORNING 10-15 Leo 1 - TEMPLE-TUTTLE
GEMINIDS Dec 14 MORNING• 50-75+ Gemini 3 - ASTEROID 3200
KEY - (*) MOON INTERFERES WITH VIEWING METEOR SHOWER -- DARK SKIES ARE EXTREMELY HELPFUL!
SPEED: 1 = VERY SWIFT; 2 = SWIFT; 3 = MEDIUM; 4 = SLOW

FCPS Planetaria 1998 Astronomical Calendar - Page 2

Table 6.0 - 1998 LOCATION OF PLANETS BY CONSTELLATION
(THERE ARE A TOTAL OF 88 CONSTELLATIONS)
MONTH MARS JUPITER SATURN
JAN. CAPRICORNUS CAPRICORNUS PISCES
FEB. AQUARIUS AQUARIUS PISCES
MAR. PISCES AQUARIUS PISCES
APR. ARIES AQUARIUS PISCES
MAY ARIES AQUARIUS PISCES
JUN. TAURUS AQUARIUS ARIES
JUL. GEMINI AQUARIUS R ARIES
AUG. GEMINI AQUARIUS R ARIES R
SEP. CANCER AQUARIUS R ARIES R
OCT. LEO AQUARIUS R ARIES R
NOV. LEO AQUARIUS R PISCES R
DEC. VIRGO AQUARIUS PISCES R
R = RETROGRADE

SIZE OF CONSTELLATIONS

1ST 2ND
LARGEST CONSTELLATIONS HYDRA VIRGO
SMALLEST CONSTELLATIONS CRUX EQUULEUS

Table 7.0 - FIVE BRIGHTEST STARS SEEN FROM THE NORTHERN HEMISPHERE
STAR NAME STAR MAGNITUDE DISTANCE TO STAR STAR COLOR STAR TYPE LUMINOSITY x SUN TEMP. °F REMARKS
SIRIUS (-1.45) 008.7 LIGHT YRS. BLUE WHITE MAIN SEQUENCE 26 ##### HAS NEAREST WHITE DWARF
ARCTURUS (-0.04) 036.0 LIGHT YRS. ORANGE GIANT 110 4,400 VARIABLE STAR
VEGA (+0.04) 026.6 LIGHT YRS. BLUE WHITE MAIN SEQUENCE 55 ##### IN SUMMER TRIANGLE
CAPELLA (+0.08) 045.0 LIGHT YRS. YELLOW GIANT 150 5,000 BINARY
RIGEL (+0.12) 900.0 LIGHT YRS. BLUE SUPER GIANT ##### ##### BRIGHTEST IN ORION

Table 8.0 - SOLAR SYSTEM DATA
CELESTIAL OBJECT LIGHT TIME TO EARTH ROTATION PERIOD MILLIONS OF MILES TO SUN REVOLUTION PERIOD OFFICIAL # OF MOONS DIAMETER IN MILES NUMBER OF RINGS VOL. x EARTH Your Earth weight times number factor
SUN 8m 19.0s 025d 06h 52m       #####   ###### ####
MOON 0m 01.16s 027d 07h 43m   27d 7h 43m   2,158   0.02 0.17
MERCURY 5m 05.8s 058d 015h 36m 35.9 87.97 days 0 3,031 0 0.06 0.38
VENUS 2m 18.0s 243d 00h 14m (R) 67.2 224.7 days 0 7,521 0 0.86 0.91
EARTH   000d 23h 56m 04s 92.9 365.256 days 1 7,928 0 1 1.00
MARS 0h 04m 22s 000d 24h 37m 48s 141.6 687days(1.8yrs) 2 4,219 0 0.15 0.38
JUPITER 0h 34m 57s 000d 09h 55m 30s 483.6 11.862 yrs. 16 ##### 3 1321 2.53
SATURN 1h 11m 01s 000d 10h 39m 22s 886.7 29.46 yrs. 18 ##### >10,000 764 1.07
URANUS 2h 31m 13s 000d 17h 14m (R) 1783.1 84.01 yrs. 15 ##### 11 63.1 0.91
NEPTUNE 4h 01m 40s 000d 16h 07m 2797.1 164.79 yrs. 8 ##### 4 57.7 1.14
PLUTO 5h 19m 42s 006d 09h 18m (R) 3666.3 248.6 yrs. 1 1,429 0 0.01 0.08

Table 9.0 - 1998 SKY ALMANAC ASTRONOMICAL EVENTS
Date ASTRONOMY
Smithsonian Dial-A-Phenomenon - 202-357-2000 (TAPE RECORDING)
Jan. 01 Venus(-4.5) near the horizon, Mars(+1.2) between Venus & Jupiter, Jupiter(-2.1)"nearest"moon-look 30min. after sunset
Jan. 02 Mercury (mag. -0.1) at its best low in SE morning sky about 30 mins. before dawn. It remains visible through 17th
Jan. 04 Earth closest to Sun (perihelion) Distance: 91,407,600 miles
Jan. 06 Mercury (-0.2) reaches greatest western elongation (23°).
Jan. 20 Jupiter (-2.0) and Mars(+1.2) appear very "close"- look low in the SW 30min. after sunset
Feb. 23 Venus (-4.6) reaches best altitude for viewing today @ 16° above SE just 45 minutes before sunrise & is "near" moon
Feb. 26 Total solar eclipse best in FL- Miami 50% at 1:02 PM (ALEX.,VA 22.6% MAX. AT 1:14PM ALT.41°)
Mar. 19 Mercury (-0.3) at its best low in W. 1/2hr. after sunset & is well placed for observation until the 24th (Saturn "near by")
Mar. 27 Venus (-4.4) reaches western elongation (46°) visible in the eastern morning sky
Apr. 05 DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME STARTS AT 2:00 AM
Apr. 23 Brilliant Venus (-4.2) appears "near" Jupiter (-2.1) this morning. Look for them low in the East 30 mins. before dawn
May. 29 Venus (-4.0) appears "near" Saturn (+0.6) this morning. Look for them low in the East 30 mins. before dawn
Jul. 03 Mercury (mag. -0.2) emerges in the evening twilight. It remains visible through 11th
Jul. 04 Earth farthest from sun (aphelion) Distance: 94,512,300 miles
Jul. 17 Mercury (+0.5) reaches greatest eastern elongation (27°)
Aug. 22 Annular solar eclipse NOT VISIBLE IN U.S.A. (VISIBLE FROM MALAYSIA & INDONESIA)
Aug. 30 Mercury (+0.3) seen in East in the morning twilight "above" bright Venus (-3.9) low in the East 30 mins. before sunrise
Aug. 31 Mercury (-0.1) reaches greatest western elongation (18°)
Sep. 01 Mercury (-0.3) at its best while Venus (-3.9) sinks toward the sun look 30 mins. before dawn
Sep. 16 Jupiter (-2.9) at opposition thus it rises in the East at sunset & is visible all night long
Oct. 23 Saturn (0.0) at opposition thus it rises in the East at sunset and is visible all night long
Oct. 25 EASTERN STANDARD TIME STARTS AT 2:00 AM
Dec. 11 Mercury (+0.4) enters morning twilight & remains favorable through the 26th. Low in the SE. 30 mins. before sunrise
Dec. 17 Mercury (-0.3) at its best in the morning sky about 30 mins. before dawn. Moon appears below & to the left of Mercury.
Dec. 20 Mercury (-0.4) reaches greatest western elongation (22°)

FAIRFAX COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS PLANETARIA
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SCHOOL DIRECTOR PHONE
CARL SANDBURG WALTER SANFORD (703) 799-6169
EDISON LOWELL KOONTZ (703) 924-8057
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HAYFIELD TONY KLEPIC (703) 924-7537
HERNDON MARY BLESSING (703) 810-2335
JEFFERSON LEE ANN HENNIG (703) 750-8380
OAKTON JACK STEIFFER (703) 319-2735
W. SPRINGFIELD DAVE HINCHER (703) 913-3889
WOODSON BRUCE O'HARA (703) 503-4648

FCPS Planetaria 1998 Astronomical Calendar prepared by Lowell Koontz, Planetarium Director, Edison HS
HTML prepared by Walter Sanford, Planetarium Director, Carl Sandburg MS