Have You Never Seen Uranus?

CaptureI was going to finish that title with “I can loan you a mirror,” butt some friends told me that younger folks wouldn’t get it and it would seem too rude for others. So forget I mentioned it.

So, if you have never seen the planet Uranus (preferable pronunciation today is “YOUR’-a-nus” rather than “your-A’-nus”), then your chance is at hand. Some people have told me that I could not find it with two hands, but you can, especially if you use those two hands to hold a pair of binoculars.

You see, Uranus is just barely at the limit of human ability to see with the unaided eye, and combined with its current location in the sky and the often hazy, polluted skies we contend with, you’ll need at least a pair of binoculars.

Because of its current location near bright planet Mars, and tonight with a Waxing Crescent Moon nearby, you should be able to do it.

Assuming that it is clear enough, look to the Southwest sky tonight at 7 pm local time to see the Crescent Moon. Then you should be able to pick out bright Mars nearby. Uranus will be too faint to see with just your eyes, but should appear as a faint bluish-green dot in the position noted on the graphic.

You can try again tomorrow (Monday night), but the Moon will be farther to the East (left) and a bit higher. You should still be able to find Mars, though, and Uranus will be in nearly the same place relative to Mars.

Good luck, and the next time someone says you couldn’t find Uranus with two hands, tell them you already did.

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For more, see this link on EarthSky: https://earthsky.org/tonight/moon-mars-uranus-from-february-9-11

About Starman

Cosmic Awareness Facilitator. Astronomy, space, physics, science, planets, cosmology, reason, logic, clouds, sky phenomena, the environment, dogs and other animals, and other interesting stuff.
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