Monday 15th to Sunday 21st November 2021
We'll start the week with a bit of a challenge - have a go at trying to find the planet Uranus. If you look directly east at 6pm on Monday 15th, the planet will be located to the right and slightly up from the constellation of Taurus and the Pleiades cluster of stars.
The planet currently has a magnitude of around 5.7 so it should be possible to spot it with binoculars. Using a telescope will reveal its turquoise colour.
Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun, 2 billion miles away and the planet takes 84 years to orbit the Sun where we only take 365 days! It is composed mainly of Hydrogen and Helium and is the coldest planet in our Solar System with a minimum temperature of -224 degrees Celsius.
William Herschel discovered Uranus back in 1781. It had been observed many times before then, but everyone thought it was a star.
The Voyager 2 space probe imaged the planet in 1986 and revealed it to be almost featureless with none of the storms or bands of clouds associated with the other gas giants. Uranus is unique in that it spins on its side or in other words, its north and south poles are actually east and west!
The morning of Friday 19th sees a Full Moon and partial Lunar eclipse. If you look to the west from about 6am, the Moon will be setting and partially eclipsed by the Earth's shadow. The effect is most noticeable from 7am, just before moonset.
Screenshots courtesy of Stellarium
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