Posted on 12/15/2018 9:47:16 AM PST by ETL
If you are talking about the planet, it certainly is occasionally naked eye.
It’s how Tycho first discovered it. He mapped it even, then it disappeared. There are several other historical astronomers that saw it too.
You DO have to be in a dark place and know where to look.
You can also (from a darker sky site) catch Mira (Omicron Ceti) as it is now at peak brightness.
You can pick it up in the neck of Cetus.
Thanks. Now that you mentioned it I vaguely recall something about that.
Found this on Space.com
“We often speak of the five “naked-eye” planets (Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn), but in actuality, there is a sixth that can be glimpsed with the unaided eye if you know precisely where to look — and another that can be seen when you use a good pair of binoculars.
Uranus can also be seen by a sharp-eyed observer who knows where to look for it; Neptune is the only planet that requires optical aid in order to be seen.
Both planets were discovered after the invention of the telescope. Uranus was discovered more or less by accident in 1781. Uranus’ failure to follow its predicted orbit seemed to be due to the gravitational pull of a planet farther out in space. Two astronomers independently calculated the position of the undiscovered planet, and when telescopes were turned to this region in 1846, Neptune was found.”
https://www.space.com/38592-uranus-neptune-autumn-skywatching-2017.html
Very nice! Thank you.
Good luck! And, remember, despite the dopey, misleading headline, it is not only going to be visible tonight (Sunday), but rather, at least, until to the end of the month.
Thanks C.
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