Thread: spotting uranus
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Old 13-10-2010, 11:25 AM
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mental4astro (Alexander)
kids+wife+scopes=happyman

mental4astro is offline
 
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: sydney, australia
Posts: 4,998
Quote:
Originally Posted by icytailmark View Post
all u need is a good mirror and u can see uranus
Oh, ain't we saucy...

I've been able to see Uranus with my 10X50 binos from my home in Sydney. I've used a Sky and Telescope downloadable map to find it and Neptune last year, here is the current one:

http://media.skyandtelescope.com/doc...ptune_2010.pdf

I much prefer the old fashioned printed version of charts out in the field.

Uranus is easy to identify through a scope, even if at low power, because of its distinct blue/green colour. High power will begin to just give the disk some volume compared to the surrounding stars.

Neptune is much trickier. The only real way to identify it is with its striking blue colour, much too blue to be a star. A disk is next to impossible to make out. But you need to be patient to spot it. Blue isn't an easy colour for our eyes to make out, especially with such a small target.

Last edited by mental4astro; 14-10-2010 at 08:41 AM. Reason: more info
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