finding neptune

[4lefts]

so last night i realised neptune was up about 1:30-ish, so i thought i'd see if i could find it. i only had google skymap on my phone to locate it, so i tried to star-hop visually down from altair a make a guess at roughly where it should be. the problem i had was this - i have a telrad on my scope, which is no good for finding neptune like this because it's not visible to the naked eye, right? so i put in my lowest power eyepiece (38mm panaview, which gives a tfov 2.1 degrees) and sort of cast about. needless to say, i didn't find it. i guess i've been spoiled by saturn, which still presents a coloured disc (with ears) in this ep, but i suppose neptune doesn't? i was hoping for a tiny blue circle?

so - any tips for finding it using an 8" dob and a telrad?

thanks!

stephen.

[kniclander]

i have seen it (i think) but it looked like a star not a disc even at high powers.

[Nexus 6]

I did use the 925 and a high power ep to see if I could make it out. As kicklander says, it only appeared as a star like object and I too was unsure if I was really seeing it, its certainly nothing like a planetary disc as one can see when observing Uranus for instance, which also gave a greenish/blueish tinge of colour as you might expect. Be good to have a look at Neptune with a much bigger scope to see how it appears, just to confirm I definately have seen it.

Good Luck with your next search

[Neilius]

Me too! The trouble is, in the vicinity of the sky where Neptune is, there are a few faint blue stars and its easy to get confused. The best I could manage to see, using a 6.3mm plossl and x2 barlow was a small blueish disk - similar to the kind of view of Jupiter (save colour) through binoculars.

[4lefts]

thanks.

hmmmm. i think i was expecting too much. i knew that uranus was more of a disk, so i assumed neptune would be too. seems like you really need to pile the mag on for that though. so there was no way i was going to be sure about seeing it at x150. and i'm not sure i'd be too impressed if i did. i'll keep looking.

[swamp thing]

Hi Steve

I personally find Neptune easier than Uranus to pick out of the sky background as I find the colour much more pronounced.

The disc however takes considerably more magnification to resolve.

You should be able to resolve it in an 8" scope without to much difficulty.

It's tiny disc is pretty featureless except noticeable limb darkening but it's still a thrill to see it.

You should be able to see Triton too in an 8" although a dark sky would be beneficial. You would need to check it's position to confirm.

Regards Steve

[Bibliovegan]

Hi

So far I've only spotted Saturn - I've been tempted to stay up, but work and tiredness compete for my time!

Is it also the case with Neptune that there are so many stars that it would be hard to be sure anyway?

BV

[4lefts]

Hi Steve

I personally find Neptune easier than Uranus to pick out of the sky background as I find the colour much more pronounced.

The disc however takes considerably more magnification to resolve.

You should be able to resolve it in an 8" scope without to much difficulty.

It's tiny disc is pretty featureless except noticeable limb darkening but it's still a thrill to see it.

You should be able to see Triton too in an 8" although a dark sky would be beneficial. You would need to check it's position to confirm.

Regards Steve

hmm... interesting...

i'd definitely settle for seeing limb darkening, and triton too would be the business. we have a pretty dark sky at the club too (norman lockyer observatory). i really need to print and take a better map next time. although the moon will be up i think. if not, it'll prolly be cloudy.

[astroeddie]

Neptune is a great target for binoculars. I use a pair of 15x70's, and, whilst at sea I plot her tracks as she moves across the skies.

In a 8" scope at high power, the disc is similar to a Ganymede I find. Definate limb darkening and Triton to boot. Think to yourself that you're observing a world over 4 billion miles away.

I love the ice giants.

Keep us informed of your progress in hunting down the blue wonderer.

Eddie

[Moonshane]

I found that Neptune stands out as an obvious disc but you do need a decent level of power. The colour is quite unusual for a star being (to me) like a dark powder blue. Another target I am looking forward to this year - never spotted Triton but maybe this year.

[4lefts]

By the way, what do we mean by high power? With my current eps, I can get 150x. Need more methinks. Shame there isn't an 6mm bst explorer. Love those.

er

[Moonshane]

from memory it was a bit more than that and in the end I pushed it to a lot more (400x+) when it really did stand out as a disc albeit very blurry! I was seeing it though at much lower powers and it just looked 'different'.

[Nexus 6]

Guess I need to have another look!, was not using very high powers, and was not aware of any obvious colour when I last had a go at it, with my 7mm BGO I would have 335x, should help next time I have a look.

Hope you also see it 4lefts

[Moonshane]

does anyone have a detailed map of the positions of Neptune and Uranus this time about please? might have a go at these next time out.

[4lefts]

I did some screen grabs from stellar for this week. Posting from my phone, but I'll attach them when i get home.

[Moonshane]

just realised myself that Stellarium is the obvious source! unfortunately it confirms that for me Neptune will be visible much later in the year, closer to opposition in fact.

[astroeddie]

Shane,

Sky and Telescope always have good finder charts for the outer planets.

In your 16" Triton should be like a street light !!!

I'm away for 13-16 weeks from 20th Aug and plan sessions with my binos so when I get home, I'll know exactly where it is. Eager to see it in my 12". Infact looking forward to seeing anything in the new dob. My 4th week of ownership and still no stars

Ed

[swamp thing]

In your 16" Triton should be like a street light !!!

Dunno about street light Ed but yes it's pretty easy in a 16"

Regards Steve

[astroeddie]

yep,

Maybe a bit over exadurated on my behalf. I spotted it quite easily in my 10" newt.

Ed

[4lefts]

i want a 16". i doubt the base would fit on the passenger seat of my ford ka. at least the 8" has that going for it...

anyway, in case it's useful, here's the map i'm going to use.

[swamp thing]

i want a 16". i doubt the base would fit on the passenger seat of my ford ka.

Well you don't need me to tell you the solution there.

Vans rule.

Regards Steve

[Moonshane]

cheers for the map. mine fits in the back of my Rover 200!

[4lefts]

Well you don't need me to tell you the solution there.

Vans rule.

Regards Steve

ha. honestly, if i had money for a 16", i could probably afford a car to fit it.

[Moonshane]

my scope is worth about 3x the value of my car!!

[Nexus 6]

Perhaps this is an opportunity to evaluate Neptune with a variety of scopes and ep's being used, would be interesting to see what people think, of course a big dob and some darkish skies would have a clear advantage. Really is a struggle and a bit of a risk for me to take the 925 out and about, have only done it once in almost two years. The little van I have did cost less than the scope so I know how you feel Shane!