Neptune and Uranus

[John]

Having some fun tonight with the 12" dob despite the bright moon

Neptune is just showing over our neighbours roof ridge. No doubts about it's planetary nature even at 100x. Shows a clear pale blue disk at 318x and 454x. Triton is going to be a bit out of reach at 14th mag with all this moonlight in the sky and it's low altitude. Might be worth a shot under other conditions. It's been quite a while since I observed this distant gas giant and it's nice to make it's acquaintance again

Hoping to pick up Uranus next which should be relatively easy as it's about 2 degrees from the moon tonight.

[John]

Well this was worth waiting for !

I've currently got the 8mm Ethos in the scope which gives around 200x and a true field of around half a degree.At the moment I can frame a portion of the lunar limb and Uranus showing a nice blue/green disk in the same field of view. Fantastic !!!

100 degree eyepieces do have their uses

[Paul73]

Looking good indeed.

Getting a bit too close together now as the lunar glare is beginning to wash out the disk of Uranus. Still a lovely colour contrast at 150x. Might have another squint later as they move apart.

Worth getting cold for (should have put a jumper over the PJs)!

Paul

[Qualia]

Sounds a cracking evening, John. The Moon was super big and bright tonight but I never even figured to hunt out Uranus. Great thinking and great report

[John]

I think the conjunction between the Moon and Uranus is as close as it's going to get here. I can get a decent chunk of the lunar limb and Uranus in the same FoV at 530x. The true field is .11 degrees so I reckon that the two objects are about half that apparant distance. I don't know how that fits in with the predictions but it sure looks great from my perspective

As Paul says, the disk of Uranus is a bit washed out by the Lunar glow but the colour contrast is still very strong. The Moon is monochrome but Uranus is notably blue / blue-green in hue.

Really enjoyable event

[Special K]

Nice idea to get the Moon into the picture rather than trying to escape its influence! Sounds like it was an impressive view in the Ethos, and the color is really fantastic, isn't it? The game is back on with Neptune for me, now the Moon has moved away. These ice giants are nicely positioned at social hours currently, and Uranus is easier to spot as its gone brighter than surrounding stars in that area. I star hop following a line from Hamal and Sharatan to n Pisces, and then that distance again to the planet. Fortunately, it doesn't move much in a year so the surroundings are familiar, and easy to spot in the bins.