Uranus last night

[jdg600]

Looking at Stellarium last night I noticed that Uranus was quite close to the Moon. I'd never seen it before so I grabbed the binos and went outside for a look. Sure enough there it was  with a star of similar magnitude close by too. I did a quick sketch:

[Mark at Beaufort]

Nice sketch - its always great to track down these distant planets. I think these Celestron 15x70 are great binos for the money.

Mark

[Mike73]

I still havent seen Uranus let alone sketched it! Well done John!!

[jdg600]

Thanks Mike. I must admit I got a real buzz out of tracking down this little dot, almost lost in the Moon's glare, and knowing it was in fact Uranus, one of the most distant planets in the solar system.

Thanks Mark. I couldn't agree more about the Celestron 15x70s, for the money they are fantastic. Mine show sharpish stars (a little astigmatism but nothing to pronounced) across about 90% of the field. They are much better than my Nikon 8x40s which go all mushy about half way across the field. Now I've got them mounted on a halfway decent tripod they make a great grab-n-go set up for when I haven't got time or can't be bothered to get the scope out.

[goodricke1]

Nice, saw it myself the other night, it makes a lovely pair at the mo with its HIP companion no more than 1/10° away I would guess.

[jdg600]

They do make a nice sight. I thought I could definitely detect a blue-greenish tinge to Uranus as well (though I may have been deceiving myself). I think you are probably right about the separation which suggests the scale is somewhat out on my sketch.

[mdstuart]

I also had a look. It was a small disk (about 2mm?) in my 14 inch dob at x 148.

Mark

[jdg600]

Could you discern its colour with the dob Mark?

[mdstuart]

In the dob it was white with a hint of pale green. I think the moon was washing out the colour so it might be better in a dark sky!

Mark

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[Special K]

Nice sketch! Must have been very nice in those bins! Did you have to move the moon out of FOV to see Uranus? The moon certainly was washing out the area but not sure if that has an effect on color. I recently located it and noticed there is a definite hue which is very subtle and despite being a small disc is a thrill to claim it.

[jdg600]

I could see Uranus with the Moon in the same FOV as in the sketch though it was a little better when I moved the Moon out of the FOV. I had a look again last night with the Moon a bit further away and again definitely thought it had a blue-green tinge to it. As you say, its a real thrill to actually see such a distant planet and with something so simple as a pair of binoculars too.