Uranus and Neptune will be in excellent positions to spot them in the night sky this autumn.
Credit: Starry Night
Posted on 10/29/2017 1:19:50 PM PDT by BenLurkin
Barely visible to the unaided eye on very dark, clear nights, the planet Uranus — currently shining at magnitude 5.7 — is now visible during the evening hours among the stars of the constellation Pisces, the fishes. Pisces is shaped like two fishing lines tied together in a knot, with one fish dangling from each line; it resembles the shape of the letter V, tilted on its side. The star that marks the knot is known as Al Risha, a fourth-magnitude star. Above Al Risha is a star of similar brightness, known as Omicron Piscium.
The next step is to carefully study a star chart, then scan that region with binoculars. Uranus should be evident, set off by its greenish tint. Uranus just passed its opposition to the sun (on Oct. 19) and is currently visible in the sky all through the night. Right now, it appears at its highest at around midnight local daylight time, when it will stand roughly 60 degrees above the southern horizon; roughly two-thirds up from the horizon to the point directly overhead (the zenith).
Using a magnification of 150x with a telescope of at least three-inch aperture, you just might be able to resolve Uranus into a tiny, pale-green, featureless disk. While observing Uranus from the Susan F. Rose Observatory at the Custer Institute in Southold on Oct. 21, New York amateur astronomer Bart Fried wrote to New York's Amateur Observers' Society (NYAOS): "[At] 180-power for Uranus ... that's a speck!" Unless the seeing, or blurring and twinkling caused by Earth's atmosphere is "total chaos," Fried suggested trying a 300x telescope, "and next time, it will actually look like a planet. And maybe with [a larger aperture], some mottling or cloud feature will be visible." Indeed, larger instruments will better resolve this planet's verdant disk.
(Excerpt) Read more at space.com ...
Uranus jokes in 3...2...1...
I dont want to see Uranus at night or during the day!!
All I have is 8 x 56 binoculars. Good ones, but I don’t know if they’re powerful enough. Would I be able to see them?
Uranus walks into a bar ...
Not the same as mooning?
Serious question: Does Uranus emit gas and have rings around it?
Plenty of gas after the garlic hummus last night but I don't know about rings.
You need a telescope to see Neptune but a mirror to see Uranus!
Unless you want to go to a joint session of Congress where you can see ALL 535 ANUSES at once!
I do not know the answer to that. Perhaps one of the FR serious stargazers can.
Uranus with a greenish tint. Nice.
The older common pronunciation of Uranus was better. They should have let it be instead of arguing for the new common pronunciation a few years ago.
You just broke the internet. You are a bad man! :)
What was it? Please post phonetically. I am curious.
I saw both last weekend with my scope. Ur-ran-us was a brilliant green disk, and Neptune was a smaller dull green disk.
Couldn’t see either planets moons.
Also couldn’t see Ur-ran-us’ naked eye. And I was at a dark sky site.
Modern civilization spends too much time in the gutter to have a planet named Uranus. Just sayin’
All I have is 8 x 56 binoculars.
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