Moondark for January: Deep Night Weekends for 2005

For the darkest skies, unspoiled by moonlight, observers plan around the new moon. Deep night refers to that time between astronomical twilights without the Moon in the sky. Especially favored are the deep nights of Fridays and Saturdays listed in the table below. Most of these are regular monthly observing nights for the Delmarva Star Gazers, and these circumstances are calculated for Tuckahoe State Park, MD, 38° 59' N and 75° 56' W.

Evening of
Sunset
Twilight Ends
Twilight Begins
Sunrise
Night
Deep Night
Moon %
Observing Window
Remarks
F 7 Jan 
Sa 8 Jan
 16:58
 18:33
05:47 
07:22 
11.2 h
11.1 h
11.2
8
3
18:33 - 05:39
18:33 - 05:47
 NM on 10th 
F 4 Feb
Sa 5 Feb
 17:29
 18:59
05:35 
 07:06
 10.6
9.5
10.6
20
11
18:59 - 04:29
19:00 - 05:34
 NM on 10th
F 11 Mar
Sa12 Mar
  18:07
19:35 
04:51 
06:19 
9.3 
9.0
7.9
 4
10
19:48 - 04:51
20:58 - 04:49
  
F 8 Apr
Sa 9 Apr
 19:34
21:07 
05:02 
06:36 
7.9 
7.9
7.9
0
2
21:07 - 05:02
21:09 - 05:01
 Star Gaze XI: 6-10 April; NM on 8th
F 6 May
Sa 7 May
 20:01
21:45
04:15 
05:58 
6.5 
6.5
6.4
2
0
21:45 - 04:15
21:46 - 04:13
 NM on 8th 
F 3 Jun
Sa 4 Jun
 20:25
22:21 
03:42 
05:38
5.4 
5.4
5.3
8
3
22:21 - 03:42
22:22 - 03:41
  
F 8 Jul
Sa 9 Jul
 20:31
22:27 
03:50 
05:46 
5.4 
5.4
5.0
6
12
22:27 - 03:50
22:48 - 03:51
  
F 5 Aug
Sa 6 Aug
 20:10
21:54 
04:25 
06:08 
6.5 
6.5
6.6
1
4
21:54 - 04:25
21:52 - 04:26
 NM on 5th
F 2 Sep
Sa 3 Sep
 19:32
21:05 
05:01 
 06:34
7.9 
7.9
8.0
0
0
21:05 - 05:01
21:03 - 05:02
 NM on 3rd
F 30 Sep
Sa 1 Oct
18:47 
 20:16
 05:30
 06:59
9.2 
8.8
9.3
 5
2
 20:16 - 05:05
20:14 - 05:31
 No Frills X: 28 Sep-2 Oct; NM on 3rd
F 28 Oct
Sa 29 Oct
 18:07
19:37 
 05:57*
07:27* 
 10.3
8.3
9.3
15
9
19:37 - 03:54
19:36 - 04:55*
 DST ends, *subtract 1 h for Su morning times
F 4 Nov
Sa 5 Nov
 16:59
18:30 
05:04 
06:35 
10.6 
10.5
9.5
12
20
18:36 - 05:04
19:33 - 05:05
  
F 2 Dec
Sa 3 Dec
 16:41
18:16 
05:30 
07:05 
11.2 
11.2
11.0
3
9
18:16 - 05:30
18:28 - 05:31
 NM on 1st 
F 30 Dec
Sa 31 Dec
 16:50
18:26 
 05:46
07:22 
11.3 
11.3
11.3
0
2
18:26 - 05:46
18:27 - 05:46
 NM on  31st 
All times are local: Eastern Standard Time is 5 hours behind Universal Time; Daylight Saving Time, between 3 April and 30 October 2005, is 4 hours behind. New moons start the year on 10 Jan and gradually advance to the beginning of the months by year's end. In fact, December has two new moons: on the 1st and then on New Year’s Eve. Observing windows match twilight times because (fortunately!) New Moons tend to fall on weekends this year (N.B. moon phases are UT). This table is also available in text format for every day of 2005.

2005 looks promising. As the year opens, we have bright Comet Machholz in the northern sky, and the Huygens probe reaches Saturn’s moon Titan. Throughout the year, there are lunar occultations of Jupiter, Antares and Spica. Mars returns and dominates the sky through year’s end. But why not use these deep nights to re-discover the constellations or complete your Messier list? For a greater challenge try the Caldwell, Herschel, NGC lists, or even the catalogs of hordes of dim, hard to find planetaries and galaxies out there. Our club has experts in all these, and our members will be only too glad to provide encouragement. Participate in the online discussion at the club's Yahoo! site or join us at a monthly meeting, held on the first Tuesday of the month in Smyrna.

For the latest info, be sure to check times and dates in the monthly newsletter, the Star Gazer News. Moondark is written by Doug Miller, published at the Moondark web site, and printed in the Delmarva Star Gazers' Star Gazer News. This document was last revised on 26 December 2004. Text and images copyright © 2004 by Douglas C. Miller, All Rights Reserved. This material may not be reproduced in any form without prior permission.