Wednesday, January 29, 2025
Finding Uranus in the lineup of the "planetary parade"
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| Black and White chart suitable for downloading and printing (click to embiggen and print). Uranus is at magnitude 5.7 and is visible under dark sky conditions to the unaided eye, but still best in binoculars. Looking North bight Jupiter and Aldebaran are easily visible, below and to the west the Pleiades cluster is also easily seen. Two binocular distances west is the brightish star delta Arietis and an a distinct triangular formation of stars. Uranus is in the same binocular field as delta Arietis and the triangle. The circle is the file of view of 10x50 binoclars | Stellarium simulation of the sky appearance of the area covered by the black and white chart. Click to embiggen. | One of my photographs of the area labeled to show Uranus n relation to Aldebaran, Jupiter, the Pleaides, delta Arietis and the triangle. Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra 5x zoom, ƒ/2.4 13seconds exposure, 7.9 mm, ISO1600. Click to embiggen. |
The current planetary lineup (Planetary parade), has four easily seen classical planets (Saturn, Venus, Jupiter and Mars. And two difficult to see planets (Uranus, Neptune).
You would need a telescope to see Neptune in the sky under normal circumstance, but it is low in the horizon murk, and not accessible to telescopes at the moment.
Uranus is at magnitude 5.7 and is potentially visible under dark sky conditions to the unaided eye (as humans can see down to magnitude 6.0 with decent eyesight and dark skies), if you know where to look. Binoculars (or a telescope) are still best to find this planet.
At the moment, the iconic Pleiades cluster is and excellent signpost to Uranus, just two binocular widths away.. See the charts above for guidance. If you are in a dark sky site, the abundance of faint stars may make it confusing to poick up Uranus initially, but the triangle asterism is a good further guide. You my need to consult the printable map a couple of time to pin Uranus down.
Uranus will not move much over the month, so these maps will be a good guide for all of February.
Labels: binocular, lineup, Uranus
Friday, June 24, 2022
Morning Occultation Of Uranus (WA, NT and FNQ, Saturday 25 June, 2022)
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| Morning sky on Saturday June 25 as seen from Mt.Isa at 6:22 am AEST just before Uranus disappears behind the bright limb of the Moon. The inset shows the binocular appearance of the Moon and Uranus at this time. | Morning sky on Saturday June 25 as seen from Alice Springs at 5:43 am ACST just before Uranus disappears behind the bright limb of the Moon. The inset shows the binocular appearance of the Moon and Uranus at this time. | Morning sky on Saturday June 25 as seen from Perth at 4:48 am AWST just after Uranus reappears behind the dark limb of the Moon. The inset shows the binocular appearance of the Moon and Uranus at this time. |
On the morning of Saturday June 25 the Moon and and Uranus are very close and an occultation is seen in Western Australia, Northern Territory and Far North Queensland.
Times for selected cities in these areas are given in the table below, time will be similar for nearby locations. Times in UT for other Australian cities can be found in the tables at the IOTA site.
| Town | Nautical twilight | Civil twilight | Disappearance Bright Limb | Reappearance Dark Limb | Height |
| Alice Springs (ACST) | 6:24 | 6:52 | 5:45 | 6:29 | 23 |
| Darwin (ACST) | 6:17 | 6:44 | 5:37 | 6:51 | 24 |
| Cairns (AEST) | 5:55 | 6:22 | 6:05 | 7:04 | 40 |
| Mt Isa (AEST) | 6:26 | 6:54 | 6:23 | 7:05 | 30 |
| Perth (AWST) | 6:20 | 6:50 | just above horizon 4:06 | 4:48 | 16 |
The northern Territory and northern Western Australia have the best views, in Far North Queensland Uranus emerges from behind the Moon in daylight, and will be very hard to see. In Perth and Fremantle the Moon is just 3° form the horizon at disappearance, so a very difficult target.
While Uranus is bright enough to be visible under dark sky condition to the unaided eye,the combination of moonlight and advancing twilight means that binoculars or a small telescope are needed to see Uranus.
Labels: binocular, Moon, Occultation, Uranus
Wednesday, June 08, 2022
All Five bright Classical Planets in the Morning sky in rare line-up (10-30 June, 2022)
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| Morning sky on Sunday June 12 as seen from Adelaide at 5:50 am ACST (90 minutes before sunrise). Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Venus and Mercury form a line (Uranus, Neptune and the Asteroid Vesta are in the line too, but all need at least binoculars to see). Venus and Uranus are at their closest.The inset shows the binocular appearance of Venus and Uranus at this time. Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at the equivalent local time (90 minutes before sunrise, click to embiggen). | Morning sky on Sunday June 19 as seen from Adelaide at 5:52am ACST (90 minutes before sunrise). The waning Moon is near Saturn. Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at the equivalent local time (90 minutes before sunrise, click to embiggen). | Morning sky on Wedensday June 22 as seen from Adelaide at 5:53 am ACST (90 minutes before sunrise). The waning Moon is near Jupiter. Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at the equivalent local time (90 minutes before sunrise, click to embiggen). |
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| Morning sky on Thursday June 23 as seen from Adelaide at 5:53 am ACST (90 minutes before sunrise). The crescent Moon is near Mars.The inset shows the binocular appearance of the Moon and Mars at 3:00 am local time. Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at the equivalent local time (90 minutes before sunrise, click to embiggen). | Morning sky on Saturday June 25 as seen from Adelaide at 5:53 am ACST (90 minutes before sunrise). The Moon and and Uranus are at their closest (occultation in WA, NT and FNQ). The inset shows the binocular appearance of the Moon and Uranus at this time. Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia except the occulting states at the equivalent local time (90 minutes before sunrise, click to embiggen). | Morning sky on Sunday June 26 as seen from Adelaide at 6:24 am ACST (60 minutes before sunrise). The crescent moon forms a line with Venus, Aldebaran and Mercury, with the Pleiades cluster close by. Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at the equivalent local time (60 minutes before sunrise, click to embiggen). |
Over the next three weeks you will be able to see a rather rare sight, if you have clear morning skies. All 5 bright classical planets are lined up in the order they are from the Sun. Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. In February 2016 we also had 5 bright planets in the morning skies but the lineup was Mercury, Venus, Saturn, Mars and Jupiter. We have to go back 21 December 2004 to have all 5 planets in the morning sky in solar order.
Also, unlike the other times we had all the bright classical planets together in the morning, we also have all the other planets (Uranus, Neptune), the Dwarf planet Pluto and the Asteroid 4 Vesta. These are not is solar system order.
To make up for this on the 12th we have a close approach of Venus and Uranus. The Moon joins the line-up from the 19th, and we have lots of nice close Moon approaches, with the Moon and Uranus being close on the 25th and occultations in Cairns (Dawn), Darwin, Alice Springs and Perth.
On the 26th Venus and the thin crescent Moon are close, the Pleiades and Aldebaran and Mercury make this an attractive sight. On the 27th the thin crescent Moon forms a rectangle with Mercury, Venus and Aldebaran. On the 30th Venus forms a second eye for Taurus the Bull.
Labels: 4 Vesta, Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, Neptune, Occultation, Saturn, unaided eye, Uranus, Venus
Saturday, January 16, 2021
Mars close to Uranus (15-27 January, 2021)
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| Evening sky at 22:14 ACDST (90 minutes after sunset) on Saturday, January 16 facing north as seen from Adelaide. Mars is the
brightest object above the north-western horizon. Uranus is within a binocular field of Mars. Similar views will be seen elsewhere in Australia at the equivalent local time (90 minutes after sunset), click to embiggen. | Evening sky at 22:11 ACDST (90 minutes after sunset) on
Tuesday, January 19 facing north as seen from Adelaide. Mars is the
brightest object aside from the Moon above the north-western horizon. Uranus is just above Mars, Similar views will be seen elsewhere in Australia at the equivalent local time (90 minutes after sunset), click to embiggen. | <- td="">Evening sky at 22:10 ACDST (90 minutes after sunset) on
Thursday, January 21 facing north as seen from Adelaide. Mars is the
brightest object above the north-western horizon and is just below the
apogee First Quarter moon. Uranus is between the pair, in binoculars,
Uranus is the brightest object aide from Mars and the Moon in the
binocular field. Similar views will be seen elsewhere in Australia at the equivalent local time (90 minutes after sunset), click to embiggen. |
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| Approximate binocular view of Mars and Uranus as seen with 10x50 binoculars on on Saturday, January 16, click to embiggen. | Approximate binocular view of Mars and Uranus as seen with 10x50 binoculars on on Tuesday, January 19, click to embiggen. | Approximate binocular view of apogee First Quarter Moon, Mars and Uranus as seen with 10x50 binoculars on on Thursday, January 21, click to embiggen. |
From now until roughly January 27 will be a good time to view Uranus. Although Uranus is bright enough to be (just) visible to the naked eye at magnitude 5.7, finding it can be quite difficult. Over the next few days we have a very
bright signpost, Mars, to guide us. Between now and Wednesday 27 January Mars will be within binocular distance of Uranus. On the 21st, Uranus will be between Mars and the Moon, and within a wide field telescope objective field of view from Mars. With a telescope you should see Uranus as a tiny disk.
During this time Uranus is the brightest object aside from the star 19 Arietis (which is approximately as bright as Uranus) in the constellation of Aires, the Ram) and of course the Moon, within binocular range of Mars, but Uranus is easily distinguished as it is above Mars.
The 21st is also the night of the apogee First Quarter moon, so you might like to try your hand at imaging Mars and Uranus.
Labels: binocular, Mars, Moon, Uranus
Saturday, March 07, 2020
Venus close to Uranus (8-9 March, 2020)
Similar views will be seen elsewhere in Australia 60 minutes after sunset, click to embiggen.
On the 8th and 9th Venus is close to Uranus. Close in this context being around two finger-widths away. While in theory Unaus is bright enough to be seen with the unaided eye (magnitude 5.8), its closeness to the horizon, best visibility at nautical twilight (and hour after sunset) and the brightness of Venus, Uranus will be effectively visible only in binoculars.
Unfortunately stellarium washes out the stars when I try and make a higher powered spotters map, so I made a black and white printable map, this shows the track of Venus and Urans from the 7th to 10.
The circle is the approximate filed of view of 10x50 binoculars and the Pleiades (also seen in the stellarium chart) are at the upper right.
The chart is in the same orientation as the spotters charts,stars down to magnitude 11 are shown. The circle is the approximate filed of view of 10x50 binoculars. This shows the track of Venus and Uranus from the 7th to 10.
A scale line and compass direction is also shown. Use in conjunction with a red torch to preserve your night sight.
Labels: Conjunction, Uranus, Venus
Thursday, June 04, 2015
Occultation of Uranus by the Moon
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| North-Eastern horizon as seen from Brisbane at 5:00 am AEST, just before Uranus is covered by the Moon (click to embigen). | North-Eastern horizon as seen from Brisbane at 6:23 am AEST, just after Uranus exits from behind the Moon |
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| North-Eastern horizon as seen from Adelaide at 4:15 am ACST, just before Uranus is covered by the Moon. | North-Eastern horizon as seen from Adelaide at 5:30 am ACST, just after Uranus exits from behind the Moon. |
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| North-Eastern horizon as seen from Hobart at 5:00 am AEST, just before Uranus is covered by the Moon. | North-Eastern horizon as seen from Hobart at 6:10 am AEST, just after Uranus exits from behind the Moon. |
On the morning of Friday 12 June Uranus is occulted by the Moon as seen from southern Australia (basically anywhere south of Townsville).
For western Australia the Moon will be low to the horizon (or below it) when Uranus goes behind the Moon, but the sight of Uranus popping up from the Earth-lit dark side of the Moon will be rather nice from these places.
In the more north-eastern sites the Uranus goes behind the bright edge of the Moon when it is dark, but exits in twilight. For Brisbane the occultation starts high in the sky, but Uranus appears from behind the Moon about 15 minutes from sunrise, and reappearance may only be visible in decent telescopes.
South Australia, Victoria and Tasmania will have good views of ingress and exit.
The Moon is a very obvious signpost for where to look low in the east. Uranus will be the brightest object near the Moon, but will only be visible in binoculars or a small telescope.
The occultation occurs in the early morning with the Moon just above the horizon at the start (except in Perth), when Uranus disappears behind the bright edge of the crescent. The Moon is easily visible and a ready signpost to Uranus.
It is advisable to set up and practise on the Moon a day or so before the event, so you are familiar with your telescope set-up. Set up at least half an hour ahead of time so that you can be sure everything is working well and you can watch the entire event comfortably (trying to focus your telescope on Uranus moments before the occultation will cause a lot of unnecessary stress). Uranus will be clearly visible in a telescope or binoculars near the Moon. See the diagrams above for the appearance of Uranus near the Moon. Uranus will be a bright dot in all but moderately powerful telescopes, where it will appear as a small disk.
| Place | Moon rise | Disappears Bright Limb | Reappears Dark Limb | Astronomical Twilight |
| Adelaide ACST | 2:20 | 4:19 | 5:27 | 5:50 |
| Brisbane AEST | 1:45 | 5:06 | 6:22 | 5:12 |
| Canberra AEST | 2:06 | 4:59 | 6:13 | 5:38 |
| Darwin ACST | 1:44 | - | - | 5:49 |
| Hobart AEST | 2:20 | 5:01 | 6:07 | 5:57 |
| Melbourne AEST | 2:25 | 4:55 | 6:06 | 5:58 |
| Perth AWST | 2:23 | - | 3:28 | 5:47 |
| Sydney AEST | 1:56 | 5:01 | 6:17 | 5:28 |
Labels: binoculars, Moon, Occultation, telescope, Uranus
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