Uranus and Moon close tonight (11th Sept)

[stevend]

I have just set up the MAK. The Moon is very bright but the terminator is outstanding near Mare Crisium. I then skewed over to Uranus and despite the lunar glare was easily able to spot it. Over the next couple of hours Uranus should move into the same fov as the moon.

[John]

I think Uranus is about 2 degrees from the Moon tonight. I've been having a look at Neptune so hope to make it "a double" by observing Uranus later

[Paul73]

According to Stellarium it is going to be a lot closer. About, 20 to 25" sky between them!!

Paul

[stevend]

According to my research Uranus will be c1 degree from the Moon (I had not thought to check with Stellarium), either way it is going to be in the same FOV. There will be an occult in some places but personally I think a close pass by looks better.

It has been a good little session with some lunar views, a terminator just taking the edge off a full moon makes such a difference. After seeing the recent Saturn & Moon, it was good to get the clear skies for Uranus & the Moon.

[John]

Fantastic view right now !

The lunar limb plus the pale blue / green disk of Uranus in the same field of view at 200x !

Why 100 degree FoV eyepieces ? - this is why

[jetstream]

My first time seeing this planet,Uranus,what a great color to it! It seemed to like 300x tonight as did the moon through patches of great seeing,the depth and structure of the craters along the terminator was amazing.

I'm pretty excited to see a new (to me) planet beautiful bright aqua blue.

[stevend]

To think that having been out on my MTB earlier for a twilight ride where I enjoyed great views from high up in the hills of the setting red sun, which left me in a happy place and I only got the scope out because of Uranus' lunar pass by. I would have missed such glorious lunar views.

Unlike you gentlemen  I had to settle for 188x. As soon as I saw the clarity I knew we were going to great views. I particularly enjoyed looking at Crisium, Petavius and Landgrenus, and the clearly defined shadows cast across the many smaller craters like Picard. I noticed that even parts of Tranquility were showing unusual detail due the edge being taken off by the presence of a terminator (or my eyesight was unusually keen) . Then I just set the goto to Uranus with 66x and just let the view of the Moon slowly come into the same FOV and then get nearer and nearer.

Now I need coffee, and lots of it.

[christhebrit]

I'm using a 6" Skywatcher 1200mm refractor. most powerful EP I have good resolution wi is my 12.5mm Plössl and 2x Barlow lense. I've tried finding Neptune without luck (it wasn't a long look to be honest as clouds came in). How noticable is it, or Uranus also? I think I may have skimmed passed a few times.

[Paul73]

I'm using a 6" Skywatcher 1200mm refractor. most powerful EP I have good resolution wi is my 12.5mm Plössl and 2x Barlow lense. I've tried finding Neptune without luck (it wasn't a long look to be honest as clouds came in). How noticable is it, or Uranus also? I think I may have skimmed passed a few times.

You've got plenty of magnification. Uranus is a tiny well defined light blue disc that will look like a fat star at 100x but a definite disc at 150 to 200. Neptune will always look like a blue star whatever the mag. Neptune is a much darker, more vivid blue than Uranus.

Both are nice and high at the moment.

Paul

[stevend]

I've tried finding Neptune without luck (it wasn't a long look to be honest as clouds came in). How noticable is it, or Uranus also? I think I may have skimmed passed a few times.

I usually 'cheat' by using the goto but I think they are both noticeable due to their colour. My suggestion would be to use Stellarium or a star chart so you know where to look and to star hop from there, which i have to do when the goto becomes gotosomewherenear.   I think it is important to initially keep magnification low maybe 50x-75x ? until you find them. At the moment I find Neptune can be a bit awkward before 10pm due to my local conditions.

[Davey-T]

Got this a couple of nights ago, looks like Stellarium screen.

Dave

[christhebrit]

Sounds great, I'll give it another go. I'll try Uranus first. Great photo by the way

[Uplooker]

I managed to bag Uranus last night. I had never observed it before. Conditions dictated that best view was at 132x with my 13mm Nag and my Dob. It was a lovely sight. I had tried for Neptune, but by the time the huge contrail had moved out of the way it was behind next doors roof. I will get, hopefully later this week. I have no chance of Pluto due to its position in relation to neighbours houses.

Oh I am utterly loving my Dob, it make it so easy to find things / star hop. I am freed from the shackles of an EQ mount

Ian

[cotterless45]

Well spotted, amazing how non stellar and colourful that Neptune and Uranus are, even at low magnification,

Nick.

[christhebrit]

Clear skies last night so I set up the refractor well in advance giving it over an hour to cool down. My main target was Neptune. I did a 2 star alignment using Altair and Arcurus.

It seems Neptune is low in the horizon arouns 2230 and using my 40mm and 12.5mm Plössl I couldn't see it.

I say I couldn't because I'm not entirely sure I did.

After a few hours looking through the scope I probably started seeing things as every now and then I thought I saw a dark blue object about the size of a pin head.

It was very small and hard to identify as an object, this could be down to LP.

Does anyone have any advice I can use to confirm what I should see?

I know it's meant to be really small and blue, but how small and how deep blue?

I know planets don't twinkle, but until I know I saw it, I'll keep second guessing I did.

Only when I saw Mars, Jupiter and Saturn could I say I knew where they were in the sky, now I'm looking for object which I can't see by eye.

[Uplooker]

It is supposed to be really blue, where as Uranus is more of a bluey green. Neputune's apparent size and Mag are 2.4 arc sec and +7.8 respectivley as opposed to Uranus which is 3.7 arc sec and +5.7, so it will be a bit smaller and less bright. I did try last night but there was too much low cloud and the seeing was really quite terrible. I am hopeful for this evening but as it is a lovely clear blue sky now that means that this evening it will probably be a pea souper.

Ian

[Dave In Vermont]

Regards Neptune - it currently resides at:

RA (Topocentric): 22h 31m 01.21s
Dec (Topocentric): -10 degree 07' 44.81"

RA (2000.0): 22h 30m 13.11s
Dec (2000.0): -10 degree 12' 30.00"

Anywho, the color of Neptune, and Uranus, can vary from a deep, icy blue and to a dim grey. As well as appearing green or greenish. This depends on several factors - the amount of atmosphere it's going through (depending on where it's located), and the amount of upper-atmospheric water-vapor and turbulence. And on your own eyes and how your genetic-code has you perceive colors. This last one is the most difficult to predict scientifically. The last time I saw these two was through a 12" SCT on a night of excellent seeing. Both resolved in disks and Uranus was a rich pea-soup green, and Neptune was an icy-blue. Smaller aperture can be more problematic if the sky conditions aren't that good - making it more difficult to discern the colors of the two.

Keep trying - they are well worth bagging!

Clear & Dark Skies,

Dave

[Davey-T]

Imaged them both recently and both look blue with Uranus being a deeper blue but that may be because it was higher in the sky.

The view on Stellarium is pretty accurate with Neptune being the brightest thing in the area, put in your scope and eyepiece combo to see FOV of your set up.

Dave

[Paul73]

You need to be a bit carefull with colour as different people see colour differently through a scope.

The important difference is that, with 150x Uranus is a disc, Neptune is a point (like a star). Noticeably coloured in the blue / greenish part of the spectrum.

Download Stelarium (free). For the next few nights Neptune is about 1/2° above Sigma Aquaris. Get a couple of bright stars in the eyepiece that are the same separation to give yourself a good visual feel for the gap. Then aim at Sigma Aquarius and Neptune should pop out.

Good luck

Paul

[Davey-T]

This sort of view in Stellarium with your 150 refractor and 40mm eyepiece (don't know exact FOV of your eyepiece)

Dave

[Dave In Vermont]

Well by putting out the location of a planet - any planet - such as the Lat/Long I posted on Neptune above, is good for a short period of time. The word "PLANET" means Wanderer, as they all move across the star-fields as they orbit the star. This is why, in my opinion, having a good planetarium program on your computer is an invaluable resource for folks who enjoy viewing/imaging these worlds.

As Davey-T showed us, Stellarium is one such program for this - and one of the best. Another I'll suggest is Cartes du Ciel - French for Sky Chart. And both of these are absolutely free to download and use. Here are their links:

http://www.stellarium.org/

http://www.ap-i.net/skychart/en/start

Both are in English, but other options are available. These are quite large downloads, so I'd suggest you wait until you have some time to spare before beginning to download these. They are easy to use and instructions are available.

Clear & Dark Skies,

Dave