will i be able to see uranus?

[boborange]

As the title implies I was wondering if I could see Uranus tonight?

I have a megrez 72 and live in central London and wondering if I will be able to spot it? I note on Stellarium it will be in the east later this evening and I should have a clear view but will LP, bright moon and a small scope limit my viewing?

thanks

[kniclander]

uranus is quite easy to see and will show up as a very small bluey green disc at high powers.

[boborange]

i think i have just seen uranus, not much bigger than a star but what makes me think that i have viewed it is that it moves across my FOV pretty quickly. Would a star move as quickly across your FOV than uranus?

[John]

The movement across the FOV is caused by the rotation of the Earth and so it's the same for all astro objects.

Uranus will look like a tiny pale blue disk but it does look different from a star in the same way that Jupiters moons don't look like stars.

Hope that makes some sense

[bcfcciderhead]

No stars move very slow (well not at all, we do), planets are fast as they move as well as us so i would say yes you seen it

[John]

No stars move very slow (well not at all, we do), planets are fast as they move as well as us so i would say yes you seen it

Sorry to say you've got me a bit baffled there Dave :)

Yes, planets do move against the starry background over time but not so fast they would drift out of the field of view while you are observing them.

I'm pretty sure the movement that boborange observed was due to the earths rotation and that has the same effect on all objects being observed through a scope.

[bcfcciderhead]

Sorry John, your answer was better then mine and explained better,

what i was trying to say was planet move quicker then most things so if your unsure of what your looking at and you have to keep adjusting your scope to keep it in the centre of the EP, it could be a planet,

When i first saw Saturn and was showing my children, by the time i moved from the EP and my son had a look it was gone and i had to re-centre it, in my 9mm you can see it move.

[boborange]

Thanks for your comments.

When i was tracking the object i thought was uranus it seem to move through the FOV quicker than a star, but having said that i have not looked at a star long enough to compare!

With my scope im pushing 144 magnification at the most (megrez 72 with a 3mm eyepiece) would uranus look any bigger than a star or at that mag would i notice a difference?

[brantuk]

The higher your magnification on all scopes - the quicker any object will appear to move across the field of view. Look at jupiter in a 25mm and time it across the fov - then look again in a 10mm eyepiece and time that - of course this only applies to non-tracking scopes

[kniclander]

at 144x it would definitely look disc like. if it looked like a star it isn't uranus.

[boborange]

thanks kniclander,

i thought that might be the case. oh well means i have to get back out there and try and again..

[ChrisEdu]

By two boys are keen to see Uranus, simply so they can thread it into their primary school boy humour! Still, they'll have plenty to talk about tomorrow, after trying the C11.

[MikeWilson]

As the title implies I was wondering if I could see Uranus tonight?

Mods! Mods! This is a bit direct! I thought he was propositioning me.

Sorry...

As it happens, I've tried to find Uranus using an ST80 and... I don't think I managed to see it. Maybe it was like a blueish star but I almost certainly looked right past it without realising what I was seeing.

It's a tough one, I'd say. Does anyone (without looking it up) know the relative magnitude of Uranus compared to say, Mars?

[John]

.... Does anyone (without looking it up) know the relative magnitude of Uranus compared to say, Mars?

Uranus is around magnitude 6 at the moment. Mars gets much brighter than this.

[stolenfeather]

I am sure that I saw Uranus but I'm sorry, I saw no colour to it really.

Isabelle

[kniclander]

As the title implies I was wondering if I could see Uranus tonight?

Mods! Mods! This is a bit direct! I thought he was propositioning me.

it shouldnt do but it gave me a giggle on a monday morning

[MikeWilson]

it shouldnt do but it gave me a giggle on a monday morning

The most amusing comments are the ones made unintentionally. I know it's a bit immature but hey, if it gets us through a Monday it can't be bad.. can it?

All the best,

Mike

[boborange]

after your comments I re read my post again and gave me a little chuckle too.

Good thing tonight is that i have actually seen uranus and really pleased to have found it.

Was a very small blueish disc but really chuffed to have 'discovered' it

[John]

Excellent - well done

[NAFK]

There really is no way to pronounce it that doesn't lend itself freely to toilet humour.

I think what I love most about Uranus is the peculiar way it's inclined.

[Nexus 6]

I am sure that I saw Uranus but I'm sorry, I saw no colour to it really.

Isabelle

Hi Isabelle, it does appear to give a blue/green hue, most say more blue but I always seem to see more green. It does definitely appear as a planetary body though unlike any nearby star. I did have a look at both it and Neptune which was much smaller but was also nothing like the surrounding stars with a definite distinct blueish tone. Of course I am using my cpc 925 so am not tracking it down like yourself.

Hope you get to have another view of it soon.

[stolenfeather]

I would like that Alan. I only looked for it once so my lack of colour may have been due to the sky conditions that night. I will definitely give it another go.

Isabelle