Ouranos
sage
Reged: 11/07/06
Posts: 427
Loc: Illinois
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Out last evening for 40 minutes (10:00 - 10:45) with Orion ST120 and Hyperion 17mm ep. attemping to see Uranus. No joy, at least I don't know that I saw it. How do you distinguish Uranus from the stars around it? The "Circle" of Pisces is just visible in my backyard skies. Do I need darker skies or use a bigger scope - my XT10 dob?
Paul
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East/Central Illinois
Orion XT10
Celestron C8
AstroTech 102ED
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brianb11213
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 02/25/09
Posts: 2121
Loc: 55.215N 6.554W
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Quote:
How do you distinguish Uranus from the stars around it?
1. It has a distinct greenish tinge, unusual amongst stars.
2. When viewed in steady seeing with a power over about x150, the tiny disc is obvious. Even in less than perfect seeing, in a scope over about 4", the diffraction ring pattern is obviously different to a star of similar brightness.
3. If you photograph its position - even a DSLR with a standard 50mm lens, 5 secs at f/4, high ISO has enough light grasp - twice, a few days apart, its motion will give it away.
Ordinary suburban skies are plenty dark enough to see Uranus, and your 10" scope should give an excellent view. With 11" and a reasonably transparent sky I've been able to see two of its satellites too, though they aren't easy.
Edited by brianb11213 (09/16/09 10:19 AM)
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Ouranos
sage
Reged: 11/07/06
Posts: 427
Loc: Illinois
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Thanks, Brian. I will give it another go. It is low in my sky before midnight making it a bit more difficult. Perhaps an argument for Go-To???
Paul
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East/Central Illinois
Orion XT10
Celestron C8
AstroTech 102ED
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dan777
member
Reged: 11/16/07
Posts: 79
Loc: Michigan
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Paul,
This is a great time to catch Uranus. It's at opposition and is at its brightest for the year. At your location it will reach an altitude of 40° plus. I had my best view of it ever a couple weeks ago at 240x in my 8" dob and white zone skies. I enjoy it because its blue-green color and the fact that it's so far away (planet-wise) sort of gives me an eerie feeling looking at it.
Dan
Edited by dan777 (09/16/09 08:31 PM)
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Ouranos
sage
Reged: 11/07/06
Posts: 427
Loc: Illinois
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Hallelujah! At 10:30 last eve - with my 10" Dob - I found Uranus. What a sight. It was smaller than I anticipated, it was prettier than I anticipated. Thanks to those who encouraged me to keep pursuing it.
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East/Central Illinois
Orion XT10
Celestron C8
AstroTech 102ED
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Johndob
super member
Reged: 12/22/08
Posts: 146
Loc: Newport Beach,Ca
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I have been looking for Uranus too (i goto Neptune in 5 sec. because of Jupiter)but scan the area where Uranus should be and have not viewed yet in the 10". Is it brighter or bigger than Neptune?
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Zhumell 10" Dob (Mods)
ETX-125PE UHTC
ETX-90AT
6"f/5 Newtonian
Classic 60x910
Ortho 6-7mm UO or.4mm
Meade 3000 5mm
Zhumell 2" ED Barlow
Zhumell 2" 32mm
UO. 2" 30mm 
GSO 2" 26mm
GSO 40mm CPL
Hyperion 8,13,17,21&FTR
Zhumell 8-24 Zoom
ED 3.8mm,7.5mm
Owl SP4,10,15
Zhumell EP&filter set 1"1/4
Baader 2" Neodymium/IR-cut,CelestronUHC/LPR
Zhumell OIII,UHC,SkyGlow,Polarizer
Zhumell 20x80 Giant&
10x50 plus 3 More Bino's
Brunton Echo Monocular
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brianb11213
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 02/25/09
Posts: 2121
Loc: 55.215N 6.554W
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Quote:
Is it brighter or bigger than Neptune?
About twice the disc diameter, and much, much brighter. With a good dark sky you can just about see Uranus with the naked eye (though it's just a faint star). With binoculars, even nasty little ones, it's dead easy to see, if you know where too look.
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azure1961p
professor emeritus
Reged: 01/17/09
Posts: 731
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As a kid I nailed it with a 4" reflector. It totally befuddled me - I want looking for it, I merely scanned over it at 45x and the lime-blue color was just so odd. It defied any clean definition that i was used to like Jupiter, Saturn or a close pass of Mars.
That sais - the color is NOT star-like at all. Yes, you can resolve the planet in spades with a 10". Figure over 100x to start to see the disc fairly well, while more obviously helps.
Pete
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Ouranos
sage
Reged: 11/07/06
Posts: 427
Loc: Illinois
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Okay, so now I am on the hunt for Neptune. I assume it will be a bit more of a task than Uranus. Does it also possess color?
Paul
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East/Central Illinois
Orion XT10
Celestron C8
AstroTech 102ED
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brianb11213
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 02/25/09
Posts: 2121
Loc: 55.215N 6.554W
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Quote:
Does it also possess color?
Yes, Neptune is also a distinictive colour, it's a soft blue, quite different to Uranus but also stands out to those whith experience.
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E_Look
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 03/06/08
Posts: 1208
Loc: near New York
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Even in a finderscope, Uranus looks different than the stars around it. The best way I can put it, the way it seems to me, is that both Neptune and Uranus sort of "stare back" at you. Despite being pinpricks of light, stars are kind of "soft" to look at; Uranus has this "hard", steady, turquoise-ish colored light... and you can focus it. Neptune is similar, but to a much lesser degree, and it is definitely bluer than Uranus, though more starlike in observed size; but it still kind of "looks back at you" (sort of like, "Hey, so what are you lookin' at already! Hrumph!")
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Ed
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dfell
professor emeritus
Reged: 06/25/05
Posts: 583
Loc: Wetaskiwin, Alberta, Canada
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I have observed both in a TV102 2 years ago but on the 12th while waiting for Mars I decided to observe them both again.
Neptune was easiest being close to Jupiter, Uranus was a little harder, I had the laptop running Starrt Night Pro so i put up the telrad reticle on the screen and nailed Uranus right waya.
http://www.spacealberta.com/deep/uranus_neptune.jpg
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www.spacealberta.com
12" collapsible Dob
25" Round Table Platform
Ethos 13mm
original TV smoothside plossls
80mm f/15 Towa Refractor
PST
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Johndob
super member
Reged: 12/22/08
Posts: 146
Loc: Newport Beach,Ca
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Thanks, Uranus should be a real site in the 10" I will try again tonight.
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Zhumell 10" Dob (Mods)
ETX-125PE UHTC
ETX-90AT
6"f/5 Newtonian
Classic 60x910
Ortho 6-7mm UO or.4mm
Meade 3000 5mm
Zhumell 2" ED Barlow
Zhumell 2" 32mm
UO. 2" 30mm
GSO 2" 26mm
GSO 40mm CPL
Hyperion 8,13,17,21&FTR
Zhumell 8-24 Zoom
ED 3.8mm,7.5mm
Owl SP4,10,15
Zhumell EP&filter set 1"1/4
Baader 2" Neodymium/IR-cut,CelestronUHC/LPR
Zhumell OIII,UHC,SkyGlow,Polarizer
Zhumell 20x80 Giant&
10x50 plus 3 More Bino's
Brunton Echo Monocular
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Ouranos
sage
Reged: 11/07/06
Posts: 427
Loc: Illinois
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Last evening I found Neptune with my 10 inch Dob. I am very thankful to have seen it and Uranus.
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East/Central Illinois
Orion XT10
Celestron C8
AstroTech 102ED
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Tim L
professor emeritus
Reged: 12/17/08
Posts: 565
Loc: Austin, TX
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 Great finds.
Is Pluto on your list? I've decided pretty much not to bother with that one.
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Tim
Zhumell Z10 dob
Meade 60mm refractor
Zhumell 1.25" eyepiece and filter kit
Zhumell sky-glow, UHC, and OIII filters
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Ouranos
sage
Reged: 11/07/06
Posts: 427
Loc: Illinois
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Tim,
Thanks, Tim. Yeah, I would love to see Pluto but will need to buy bigger glass than I can afford. I would also love to see earth from a distance, but that probably won't happen either.
Paul
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East/Central Illinois
Orion XT10
Celestron C8
AstroTech 102ED
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E_Look
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 03/06/08
Posts: 1208
Loc: near New York
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Heh... I'd love to see Earth from a distance, too, but come back to it, as well!!
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Ed
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NewAstronomer
Post Laureate
Reged: 09/03/04
Posts: 3020
Loc: Scranton, PA U.S.A
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I imaged Pluto on Aug 25 and Aug 30 and created a GIF to confirm it moved (others here helped identify it). It was dimmer than surrounding Mag 14 stars, and smaller, if that gives you any idea of how difficult it could be
GOTO helped there!
Uranus last night at 330x in my C11 in 4/5 conditions showed a yellowish, pale, disc.
Jupiter in the same conditions allowed detailed views of ovals within the main belts. Much more interesting
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Chris
279mm f/10 C11 SCT
250mm f/4.8 GSO Dob
70mm f/6 SV70ED
Atlas EQ-G + EQMOD
SVP Intelliscope & ST-4 Autoguide Mod
Vixen Portamount on the way!
DBK 21AU04
Olympus e-500 DSLR
Meade DSI-C
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Matthew Ota
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 04/30/05
Posts: 1096
Loc: New England
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I observed Uranus and Neptune last night. Goto and TheSky 6 made it easy to get to them.
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Matthew Ota
Meade LX250GPS 10 inch SCT (Frankenscope)
Orion ED 80
ETX-90 OTA
Coronado Helios 1 H-alpha
TheSky 6 Pro
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Tim L
professor emeritus
Reged: 12/17/08
Posts: 565
Loc: Austin, TX
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Quote:
I imaged Pluto on Aug 25 and Aug 30 and created a GIF to confirm it moved (others here helped identify it). It was dimmer than surrounding Mag 14 stars, and smaller, if that gives you any idea of how difficult it could be
Hi Chris,
I saw when you posted that--quite a piece of work! Congrats on the capture!
It was actually looking at the starfield in your post that made me think that as a strictly visual observer, I'd take a pass on Pluto. 
I'll wait for the mars-hoax-like opposition when Pluto will be as big as the full moon in the sky! 
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Tim
Zhumell Z10 dob
Meade 60mm refractor
Zhumell 1.25" eyepiece and filter kit
Zhumell sky-glow, UHC, and OIII filters
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