Venus Uranus conjunction

[Tweedledee]

If anyone hasn't seen Uranus yet, then tonight should be good since through a scope or bins it will look like Venus has its own moon.

Tonight after sunset 6th mag Uranus will be only a 10th of a degree from brilliant mag -4 Venus. Also mag 1.5 Mars will be less than 5 degrees SW.

Also, dare I say it, the forecast is great for tonight

[Doc]

No excuse not to bag Uranus tonight then, at mag 6 might even be visible in binoculars.

[Tweedledee]

It could be a challenge in low power bins due to the glare from Venus at such a close position. Venus is 9000 times brighter than Uranus!

Better to widen the gap with a higher magnification in a scope.

[Doc]

Well I'll try with my 10x43 bins.

 

I'll let you know how I get on.

[Sheila]

bit in the news on Uranus and its storms

 

http://phys.org/news/2015-03-giant-methane-storms-uranus.html

[Daz Type-R]

Hmmmm, by the time I get home they will be 11 degrees above the horizon, think I'm going to struggle to see them over next doors house.

[Smithysteve]

Well spotted Pete, will have a look tonight, I am off to an Astro buddies house this evening to try out his newly acquired dob, this will now be first target... Will take my bins, they have good optics, though it is unlikely I will see anything at only 7x50 :-) so after seeing your post, I will also take my meade ETX125 just in case we fail to set up the dob in time :-) Thanks!

[Doc]

I can see it through my 85mm spotting scope. It appears blue as well.

 

And I think I caught a little hint of it in my bins, as long as I steady them on top of my spotting scope, it was only a little glimpse between shakes.

Edited March 4, 2015 by Doc

[Daz Type-R]

Bagged them in the 200P before they dropped behind next doors house, even got my wife and son to have a look, then did Jupiter and the 4 moons, he loved that, then got blown away when I pointed the scope at the moon, tears soon followed as I announced it's bed time.

Scope still out while I eat dinner, then back out for another session.

[Tweedledee]

bit in the news on Uranus and its storms

 

http://phys.org/news/2015-03-giant-methane-storms-uranus.html

Thanks Sheila, a very interesting article.

 

Fascinating to read that John Flamsteed had observed and plotted Uranus (as the star 64 Tauri) 91 years before William Herschel actually discovered it!.

 

Seems like Uranus is full of methane and ammonia wind. I know the feeling .

[Tweedledee]

I saw Uranus tonight in my 15x70s, but it was very difficult. If I hadn't already known its orientation in relation to Venus at the observation time, I probably would not have noticed it in the glare. It was a much nicer view in the ST120, and even better after I'd stopped it down to 50mm aperture to reduce the brightness.

[Doc]

I agree Pete you needed to know where it was before going in with the binoculars. It was hard but not impossible, I'm always surprised at the views my spotting scope gives, the stars look really sharp through it.

[Tweedledee]

Your ED85 gets some excellent reviews Mick. I'm thinking about getting rid of the ST120 for a slightly smaller grab n go that will show some proper sharp stars. The ST120 just doesn't really do it. I'd like a semi-apo or better to do justice to my eyepieces.

Edited March 5, 2015 by Tweedledee

[Doc]

It's even better for birding. I have a friend called Pete who I go birding with and he has a Kowa scope, cost a lot more then mine and he prefers the views through my scope, and I must admit, it's nigh on impossible to see why his scope costs six times as much as mine.

[Smithysteve]

Well spotted Pete, will have a look tonight, I am off to an Astro buddies house this evening to try out his newly acquired dob, this will now be first target... Will take my bins, etc

Following up;

Failed to see Uranus that night due to Venus etc could not be seen from his house, but we did have a good night anyway.

Last night, spurred on by your report on Uranus conjunction etc, I did manage to see Uranus for the first time! It was low to the horizon ( so was looking through a load of atmosphere,) and partly hid by trees, though no leaves on same :-) it was roughly midway between Venus and Mars.

Thanks for the heads up!

Edited March 8, 2015 by Smithysteve

[Tweedledee]

Nice one Steve

You've got two fast moving planets, Venus and Mars, and one slow one Uranus. So their relative positions keep changing. I can't keep up with them and have to keep checking Stellarium.