Uranus and Neptune

[starman1969]

I had a look at these two last night, but they were not easy to see. They were tiny in the eypeice, Neptune was a mere speck but at least Uranus had a small blueish disc.

I tried to ramp up the magnification but they went a bit gooey. I was using a Celestron 6se with a 25mm eypiece & 2x Barlow.

If it wasn't for the goto mount I doubt I would have even found them. God knows how Herschel found Uranus. At least the skies were darker then, i suppose.

[Catweazel]

Yep, they are tiny; but then they are a very long way away (1.7 & 2.8 billion miles) you did well to get Uranus as a disc.

[Matt Scunthorpe]

For a bit of background info..

Herschel originally thought it was a comet, because it changed position relative to the stars, and he was adamant it was comet, reporting it to the Royal Society as so. It was only when other scientists worked out its orbit as almost circular that they believed it was a planet.

Of course i already knew that.. and swear i didn't read Wikipedia.....

Ive seen Uranus before in a friends telescope, but that was with goto, never seen Neptune, I have looked with my scope, but with no goto, ive never really looked properly.

[JamesM]

Well I'm going to impress you guys now (...you may refer to this as showing off ) but last night I was observing from the Herschel Museum in Bath which coincidentally was originally his home, and from a rear window I was fortunate to observe Uranus with a replica scope! Admittedly the glow from the nearby Sainsbury car park did furnish me with a sense of historical context - NOT! :grin: but its light certainly made finding this planet a little more difficult given its current position (between Cetus and Pisces) didn't contain any obvious reference stars to help locate it. Ultimately it is far away, and like Starman has already said, it would be something that would be easily missed which makes it all the more of an achievement when you consider what Herschel was using to find it.

Clear skies

James

[Matt Scunthorpe]

Might refer to it as showing off? Theres a might?

Its actually documented that Galileo found and documented Uranus first. But because of the size, didnt realise it was a planet. And it didnt move compared to other stars, as it has just entered its retrograde phase.

[rwilkey]

Hi James, I have stood at that window (in the daytime!) and seen the replica scope, did you actually use the museum one, and was it a good view, what ep did you use?

[nicks90]

i've found uranus with a non goto scope - my astromaster 130 with USELESS red dot finder.

But i think that was more luck than judgement, as i noticed it was there using SkEye and it was the only thing in that region visible with the naked eye (averted vision) and it took about 15 minutes to slewing the scope back and forth across the general area before i found it.

to say I was ecstatic is an understatement, not only did i find a planet i had never seen before - i found it without the aid of a finderscope! Not found Neptune yet, still on my to-do list with virtually everything else!

[JamesM]

Hi Robin, yes it was the museum one complete with a metal speculum mirror no less! It's the second time that I have done this and the hope is to make it an annual event. The scope's brass focuser has been adapted to allow the use of a standard 1.25" eyepiece and I believe we used a simple plossl design - no chance of getting of getting a 2" 26mm Nagler on that beauty! The focuser works by actually adjusting the position of the secondary (e.g up or down the tube) which is permanently attached to the eyepiece holder. There is quite a complex pulley system to get to grips with in order to help position the scope within it's frame and I would love to read the original instruction manual that came with this model. Its appearance is a cross between a medieval battering ram and a french guillotine, you can see a picture of it here about a quarter of the way down on the right hand side, you can enlarge it for a better view.

If they make it an annual event it is worth a look.

Clear skies

James

[rwilkey]

Hi James, that sounds like great fun, thanks for getting back to me, I love the house and spent my birthday there in the summer.

[crazyjedi]

I once found Uranus using my non goto mount. I happened to get lucky on the night (last year I think). The Sky At Night Mag had given me a heads up at the start of the month that Uranus and Jupiter would be in conjunction at some point and I kept an eye out (virtually speaking as I was using Stellarium to plan my nights viewing). On the night I saw Uranus it was very close to Jupiter and easy to find. It looked like a tiny green marble. It seemed rather spherical in appearance rather than the disc-like appearance that planets normally present. I was properly enchanted! Not often you'll hear a man say that in a public forum

[bingevader]

Sorry, childish I know, but my daughter has been doing an astronomy project in school and has come home with every possible Uranus joke in the book!

So I've had a little trouble holding back a little chortle.

Anyone seen the rings?!

Cheers

[crazyjedi]

Sorry, childish I know, but my daughter has been doing an astronomy project in school and has come home with every possible Uranus joke in the book!

So I've had a little trouble holding back a little chortle.

Anyone seen the rings?!

Cheers

Nice one!