Searching for Uranus

[bryanb1980]

Ok, so I've been enjoying my new scope for around 2 weeks. I've gotten pretty used to using stellarium and have learned the constellations fairly well.  I'm trying to find Uranus which I read was visible right now. It's showing up on Stellarium and I'm definetly in the area but my problem is I have no idea if I see it when I do see it.  I know it should be pretty small and dim but there are so many stars around the part of the sky I'm looking at I have no idea where it's at.  I've got an 8inch dob and I'm using a 38mm and 13mm lens most of the time.  What exactly is it going to look like? I'm reading a bluish green disk??? I don't know. Any suggestions?

[Special K]

Hi, and welcome!  I recently spotted it in my 5 inch newt and like you, was wondering how I would be sure.  I thought it had a ghostlike appearance and not a sharp pin of light that you would get from a similar magnitude star.  But it was only upon increasing the mag to 130x that I was certain.  You will see a disk and not a star.   I increased to 260x (beyond reasonable expectation with my scope to make out detail) in order to confirm that it was a disk.  Uranus, (having only seen it once!) is pale and you will notice it looks different straight off. 

Start with a low mag so there are not too many stars to choose from.  When I viewed it, it happened to be the brightest object in the FOV, but only by a fraction.   Good luck and you've likely already hit it!

[nightfisher]

small green/blue like a star, maybe slightly larger but not by a lot, have a good look at stellarium and star hop from a known star or two

[stevend]

The first time I looked for Uranus it took me a while to confirm that I had found it but then a couple of nights later the skies were particularly good for viewing (my southerly sky is the worst effected by LP) and it was much easier. Having found it once, it is a lot easier on other nights as you recognise what you are looking for.

[Rob63]

Higher mag around 150x to 200x would let you differentiate it from a star.

[AndyWB]

I found that it looked like a fat dot, rather than the usual dot of the stars, until I pushed the magnification. At high enough magnification it looked like a blue/green disc. Actually, it looked a lot like some planetary nebulae (e.g. Blue Snowball). I didn't find it all that dim in the scope, at least when using low magnification.

[scarp15]

If you consider that you are in the right area and since you are using what I presume is a manual dob, then watch for any object that appears to move a bit more briskly across the field of view. As others have mentioned, use a wide field low power eyepiece to begin with. Look for something that appears a bit more disc like than say just a point of light. there may be a hint of colour, but do not necessarily expect a distinguished tint of green or blue.

[Moonshane]

as above, I agree that to me when it was quite low the other night it looked like a whitish disk with not a lot of colour at all. it's looked better and when higher probably will. neptune is the same and as others have said they look the brighter objects in their star field and also bloat to discs well enough at 150-200x or more.

here's my sky and telescope pocket atlas marked with positions I used the other night. hope they help a bit. they do take some finding but once you find them you wonder how you missed them.

[Ouroboros]

Finding Uranus first with binoculars and the help of Stellarium I think is a great help when looking for it with a telescope. Using bins you can familiarise yourself with the location of stars surrounding Uranus.