S K Y W A Y , I N C

S K Y W A Y , I N C

WELCOME TO SKYWAY, INC!

SKYWAY is a company that was begun in August 1989 by Joe Rao, a broadcast meteorologist and lecturer at New York's Hayden Planetarium. Skyway grew out of a flier that was offered to New York radio listeners in advance of a spectacular evening conjunction between Venus and a slender crescent Moon in April 1988. The response was so tremendous (over 3,000!) that Joe decided to set up his own company which would distribute fliers which would highlight upcoming celestial events to interested subscribers. The first flier was published in August 1989 to coincide with a Total Eclipse of the Moon. In the spring of 1997, along with the mail-out fliers, subscribers with computers could also receive late-breaking astronomical information via "Skyway E-Mail Advisories."

Now in our nineteenth year, we serve hundreds of subscribers nationwide. A one-year subscription (12 fliers + advisory e-mails) is currently available for $16.00. Two year subscriptions cost $32.00. Send check or money order (no cash orders please!) to:

SKYWAY, INC.

P.O. Box 703

Putnam Valley, New York 10579-0703

If you would like to receive the e-mail advisories, then please include your e-mail address. We will be happy to send out sample fliers. Please send a long self-addressed stamped envelope.

JOE RAO -- Senior on-camera meteorologist for NEWS 12 WESTCHESTER, also writes the monthly Celestial Events column in NATURAL HISTORY magazine and also writes the weekly Sky Watch column in the Sunday edition of THE NEW YORK TIMES. He also provides weekly insights on what is currently visible in the heavens in the "Night Sky Friday" section of SPACE.com.

CELESTIAL HIGHLIGHTS IN 2008

A TOTAL ECLIPSE OF THE MOON ON FEBRUARY 20TH -- The midwinter Full Moon will become totally immersed in the shadow of the Earth during the late evening hours of February 20th. On that Wednesday night, the Moon will begin to enter the Earth's dark umbral shadow at 8:43 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. The total phase of the eclipse will last for 50-minutes and will run from 10:01 to 10:51 p.m. EST. The Moon will then begin emerging from the dark shadow, and will be completely free of it by 12:09 a.m. EST on Thursday morning, February 21st. North and South Americans will have a ringside seat for this event. The entire eclipse will be visible for the eastern two-thirds of the United States and all of South America. Along the immediate West Coast of the U.S. and Canada, the Moon will be entering the umbra as it rises. The Moon will pass through the southern portion of the Earth's shadow, which means its lower limb will probably glow orange or red, while the upper part of the Moon should be shaded with a dark gray or chocolate hue. AS A BONUS, at mid-eclipse (10:26 p.m. EST) the Moon will form a strikingly broad triangle with the bright star Regulus (to the Moon's upper right) and the planet Saturn (to the Moon's upper left).

METEOR SHOWERS IN 2008 -- The annual performance of the Perseid Meteors (or St. Laurence's Tears) is due late on Monday night, August 11th into the early hours of Tuesday, the 12th. These meteors appear to fan out from a spot in the sky between the constellations Perseus (hence the name "Perseid") and the "W" of Cassiopeia. Although the Moon will be at an unfavorably bright waxing gibbous phase, it is due to set at around 1:30 a.m. local time on the morning of the 12th, leaving the rest of the predawn hours dark for meteor observing. Typically, the Perseids appear as swift streaks of light, darting from out of the northeast sky, chiefly after midnight. Some are faint . . . quite a few are bright . . . and occasionally a fireball will blaze forth and light up the sky. Usually they are yellowish in color, fewer white, the brightest ones are bluish-green. About a third of all the meteors seen leave vapor trains, a few of which which may be spectacular and last for many seconds. Some end in flares or bursts. From dark-sky locations anywhere from 45 to 90 meteors per hour may be sighted and the display can be seen, but in noticeably lesser numbers for 2 or 3 days before and after the peak night.

The Geminid Meteors will peak during the night of December 13-14 (Saturday night/Sunday morning). Unfortunately, 2008 is not a favorable year for this display because the Moon will turn full on December 12th and will light up the sky and probably obscure many of the fainter streaks. This shower is an all-night affair; the meteors radiate from near the bright star Castor in the constellation Gemini, which rises from the east-northeast after about 6 in the evening and is almost directly overhead by 2 a.m. Most appear white; some are yellow and a few blue, orange and even red. These meteors move about half as fast as the Perseids and thus seem to move across the sky in a more majectic fashion. From dark sky locations, as many as 60-120 meteors per hour may be counted. They're at on-quarter peak strength for a day or two before and after the peak. Faint meteors predominate up until the peak, then much brighter meteors and even some fireballs are seen thereafter. The parent body of this rich stream was long undiscovered; is the asteriod 3200 Phaethon, now considered to be the denuded core of the Geminid comet.

BEST PLANET SHOWS IN 2008 -- Brilliant Jupiter will be the best-placed planet for observation in 2008. It will be positioned above and to the left of the famous "Teapot" of Sagittarius much of the year and will be at its best during June and July when it will be visible most of the night in the southern part of the sky. Toward the end of the year it will team up with Venus; the two will put on a spectacular show low in the southwestern evening sky on November 30th and December 1st. Mars was relatively close to the Earth and even rivaled Sirius -- the brightest star in the sky -- at the start of the year. Now receeding from Earth, it will gradually fade and by the summer it will dawdle in the evening sky as a dim and unimpressive object. During the first half of July, Mars will approach the planet Saturn, ultimately passing it on July 11th. Nearby will be the bright star Regulus; the trio will make for an interesting and ever-changing pattern in the western sky after sunset those nights.