from the 400-years-of-telescopes-and-you-go-nude dept.
Tonight – October 19, 2017 – the planet Uranus, the 7th planet outward from the sun, is at opposition. In other words, our planet Earth in its smaller, faster orbit swings in between the sun and Uranus today, placing Uranus opposite the sun in our sky.
Because Uranus is opposite the sun, Uranus rises in the east at sunset, climbs highest up for the night at midnight (midway between sunset and sunrise) and sets in the west at sunrise. Not only does Uranus stay out all night long, but this world is now coming closest to Earth for the year and shining at its brightest best in our sky.
But even at its brightest, Uranus is still quite faint. It is barely perceptible as a dim speck of light to the unaided eye. At a magnitude of 5.68, Uranus shines no more brilliantly than the sky's faintest stars. Given a dark sky free of light pollution, you might see Uranus with the eye alone – but only if you know right where to look for this distant world in front of the rather faint constellation, Pisces.
As good fortune would have it, this year the new moon – a moon most nearly between the Earth and sun for this month – falls on October 19, too, at nearly the same hour that Uranus reaches opposition.
Source: earthsky.org
takyon: The opposition peaks during the day in the U.S. (October 19, 17:21 UTC), so maybe try it on both nights.
(Score: 2, Disagree) by FatPhil on Wednesday October 18 2017, @11:19PM (25 children)
> Not only does Uranus stay out all night long, but this world is now coming closest to Earth for the year
Yeah, but Uranus has only just passed aphelion (2009) and will have a closest approach to earth closer than the previous one every year until its perihelion (2050).
> As good fortune would have it, this year the new moon falls on October 19, too
And that affects what how? Maybe the pyramids are aligned too? Yeah - my razorblade's sharper than it was yesterday, that proves it!
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 5, Informative) by Post-Nihilist on Wednesday October 18 2017, @11:58PM (8 children)
The light reflected by the moon makes the pupils smaller and in a new moon there is no moon visible so your perception of the sky is way better. There is nothing mystical or magical about it... I tough that the way our vision works was général knowledge learned in highschool... Fnord666 and takyon apparently thought something along those lines.
Be like us, be different, be a nihilist!!!
(Score: 5, Informative) by deimtee on Thursday October 19 2017, @12:11AM (2 children)
It's not just your eyes adapting. The moon can be a significant source of light pollution if it is above the horizon.
If you cough while drinking cheap red wine it really cleans out your sinuses.
(Score: 2) by BK on Thursday October 19 2017, @03:25AM
Well, light pollution is intolerable. We need to find a way to keep that Moon thing out of our skies!
...but you HAVE heard of me.
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Thursday October 19 2017, @08:53AM
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Thursday October 19 2017, @08:49AM (4 children)
Only if you're looking vaguely towards the moon. Half of the time you aren't, and the moon's utterly irrelevant.
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 19 2017, @09:08AM (3 children)
Are you really this dumb? Do you ever look at the stars? Have you seriously never noticed the moon, or any other light source's effect on the visibility of stars?
Son, you need to get out of your mom's basement and interact with the real world before you spout opinions about things you obviously know nothing about
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 19 2017, @09:13AM (2 children)
If you live in or near a big city, you'll have no chance to see anything but the brightest stars anyway, even at new moon.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 19 2017, @04:37PM (1 child)
I was fortunate to stumble upon a meeting of the Taibei astronomy club on top of the tallest skyscraper in Taibei last year. They had set up telescopes, the sky was clear, and we could see Jupiter and some of of its moons unaided, along with Uranus (having good eyes).
Forgot whether it was new moon though.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Thursday October 19 2017, @05:02PM
You saw Jupiter's moons unaided by a telescope?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galilean_moons#Visibility [wikipedia.org]
https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/26664/is-it-possible-that-i-just-saw-jupiters-moons [stackexchange.com]
http://www.denisdutton.com/jupiter_moons.htm [denisdutton.com]
I guess it is possible.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by Post-Nihilist on Thursday October 19 2017, @12:04AM (1 child)
But judging from the Technical content of your post maybe you only look at the sky with a telescope and dont care about the moon unless it is hiding the object of your interest and simply forgot the impact it has on nightvision
Be like us, be different, be a nihilist!!!
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Thursday October 19 2017, @08:50AM
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 2) by takyon on Thursday October 19 2017, @12:07AM (8 children)
http://umich.edu/~lowbrows/guide/eye.html [umich.edu]
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Thursday October 19 2017, @08:59AM (7 children)
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 2) by aristarchus on Thursday October 19 2017, @09:11AM (4 children)
Hey, Fat! Do you mind if I call you Phil? This is not right:
The illumination of the Moon, even if it is not in your sky while observing, does cause significant light pollution, which brings up my second point>
While "air" pollution can be a contributing cause, the main enemy of amateur astronomy is "light pollution". This is what may keep us from seeing Uranus, as much as we all want to, with our naked eyes. Check out such advocates as The International Dark Sky Association [darksky.org], or attempt to establish Dark Sky Preserves [wikipedia.org].
--
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Thursday October 19 2017, @10:02AM (3 children)
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 1) by aristarchus on Thursday October 19 2017, @10:20AM (2 children)
So you are saying if we could just make the earth's atmosphere into a transparent layer of crystal clear gas, all those street lights and stadium lights and my neighbor's porch lights would not make any difference it the seeing conditions for astronomy? Methinks that only some of the diffraction of the light pollution is due to human pollution of the air, and much more could be done by lessening the amount of light pollution, even though reducing "air" pollution might be a good thing on other grounds. So I have to disagree with you, FatPhil! As do most amateur astronomers.
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Thursday October 19 2017, @12:04PM (1 child)
Some of the best stargazing I've ever done (I'm a city boy, I know all about causes of light pollution, and jump on any opportunities to get away from same), was right next to a military base in the countryside. Sure, behind the woods was a really bright glow that just barely poked over the artificial horizon created by the trees, but the vast majority of the sky had the clearest pinpoints I've ever seen.
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 2) by aristarchus on Thursday October 19 2017, @06:01PM
Sure we have. They are called "light pollution domes". My point is that the light of light pollution is the more amenable component. Some of the "scatter" is natural and not due to human caused air pollution.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 19 2017, @09:26AM
The moon also affects the ambient light due to reflection from other objects nearby, including the ground you are standing on. Which unless you are looking more or less straight up will always in your field of view, and thus affect your eyes' dark adaption.
You're right, however, that the moon only will affect your adaption if it is visible on the sky (assuming no clouds; but then, clouds are already quite detrimental to seeing the stars even without moonlight ;-). But note that while the moon is only on the sky about half of the time, the moon phase determined which half it is: At full moon, it is exactly that half at which the sun is not in the sky, so whenever the moon does not disturb your view of the stars, the sun will do a much more thorough job of that. So the mopon phases not only affect the brightness of the moon as seen from earth (by showing more or less of the lightened side), but also the amount of time the moon is seen on the sky. So the closer to new moon you are, not only the less will your view of the stars be disturbed by the light of the moon when it is visible, but also, the more time you have to see the stars without any disturbance from the moon.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 19 2017, @10:06AM
I thought uranus was the source of that air pollution.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Thursday October 19 2017, @12:55AM (4 children)
As deimtee noted [soylentnews.org], the Moon is a significant source of glare. Uranus is too dim to show up in a sky with a full moon in it.
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Thursday October 19 2017, @09:03AM (3 children)
The moon is below the horizon 50% of the time, you don't need the 3% new moon for it to be cooperative.
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 19 2017, @10:47AM (2 children)
Oh for fuck's sake to you too. Think of the relative positions of sun and moon during full moon, and during new moon. When it's full, it's on the OPPOSITE SIDE from the sun.
The 50% of the time the full moon is below the horizon, the sun is above the horizon, which may adversely impact your ability to see the stars. As the fullness goes down, the percentage that both sun and moon are absent goes up. However, late evening or early morning could still be too bright to see the faintest stars/planets, because of sun's light scattering.
Since the new moon is very close to the sun, they will both rise and sink at pretty much the same time, and the night will be the darkest. This gives you the best possible conditions for observations.
Stop being a Uranus, dude.
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Thursday October 19 2017, @12:07PM (1 child)
What 50% of the time the full moon is below the horizon?!?! Stop introducing utterly irrelevant and stupid concepts, and actually argue against the points I make. This may require upping your reading comprehension skills to secondary-school level, alas.
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 19 2017, @02:10PM
You very clearly do not understand the lunar cycle and what causes the phases of the moon. When the moon is full, it is above the horizon all night long. When it is new, it is above the horizon all day long. You also misunderstand the scattering of light. Air pollution is not the primary scatter source for light, it is the air molecules themselves, which includes the atmospheric moisture. That's why the sky is blue. Your comments about the sharpest pinpricks of light you've seen are not related to light pollution, but to atmospheric seeing; you were apparently in a very good seeing location.
(Score: 3, Informative) by aristarchus on Wednesday October 18 2017, @11:26PM (3 children)
Right Ascension
01h 38m 35s
Declination
+09° 36’ 21”
(Score: 3, Interesting) by FatPhil on Wednesday October 18 2017, @11:36PM
If you let it know your location, it'll even draw a star chart for you.
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 18 2017, @11:37PM (1 child)
Is that related or are you just randomly describing goatse?
(Score: 3, Insightful) by aristarchus on Thursday October 19 2017, @12:11AM
For the 19th:
01h 38m 26s +09° 35’ 29”
Location of Uranus. So you can find it with both hands, or a telescope with setting circles.
(Score: 4, Informative) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Wednesday October 18 2017, @11:27PM (5 children)
I expect that was originally calibrated by averaging the sights of several different people.
Now I can say my Caltech Astronomy studies have not gone to waste.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 4, Funny) by Post-Nihilist on Thursday October 19 2017, @12:11AM
Now, if you had said Astrology at Caltech it would have been both a surprise and a loss!
Be like us, be different, be a nihilist!!!
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Thursday October 19 2017, @12:18AM (1 child)
Of course, these days it takes a pretty long ride from Caltech to see Mag 6 stars, even with the best eyes on the planet.
(Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Thursday October 19 2017, @12:35AM
Had my parents permitted me to visit the campus before I applied, I would not have applied.
Really, for astronomy, UC Santa Cruz is quite a good school, as it administrates Lick Observatory.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 2) by turgid on Thursday October 19 2017, @10:12AM
About ten years ago I saw Uranus lined up with Mercury and Venus just after sunset. I followed the line from Mercury to Venus with my binoculars. After locating Uranus with the binoculars, I managed to convince myself I could see it with the naked eye in my peripheral vision.
I refuse to engage in a battle of wits with an unarmed opponent [wikipedia.org].
(Score: 1) by Ingar on Thursday October 19 2017, @05:35PM
The apparent magnitude of a star is a logarithmic scale, where a difference of one magnitude corresponds
to a change in brightness with a factor of about 2.5. In a light-polluted urban area, the practical limit
for visual observations is around magnitude 3 to 4.
Forget about it if you're anywhere near a city. A telescope might work though.
(Score: 2) by Snotnose on Thursday October 19 2017, @12:16AM (2 children)
I've got a 10" Cassegrain, it's gonna stay in storage while I go to bed. Mainly because the lighting in my apartment complex means I'm lucky to see the full moon, but I either A) go to bed early; or B) don't want to get run over by some drunk idiot coming home from a night of watching it on TV in a bar.
When the dust settled America realized it was saved by a porn star.
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Thursday October 19 2017, @12:25AM (1 child)
In a dark sky, would the 10" show more than yet another pale dot?
My neighbors were disappointed that their telescope wasn't changing the pale star dots into anything other than more pale dots. They changed their mind when I pointed it to Saturn and we could see the rings.
I'm wondering if it's worth pointing it at Uranus...
(Score: 3, Informative) by Snotnose on Thursday October 19 2017, @10:10AM
Planets go from pale dots to discs. Stars stay dots.
When the dust settled America realized it was saved by a porn star.
(Score: -1, Redundant) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 19 2017, @12:19AM (1 child)
Mirror for that.
(Score: 2, Troll) by aristarchus on Thursday October 19 2017, @06:05AM
Only if you are utilizing a Newtonian telescope [wikipedia.org]. I thought all soylentils would be aware of the basic technology, going back to the times of Sir Issac Newton, and Heretic Galileo Galilei. Some think that refractors, with a longer focal length, are better for planetary observation, but I prefer a good Newtonian on a Dobsonian mount. By "good", I mean "large". As every amateur, and professional, astronomer knows, "it's all about the aperture, the aperture, the aperture, all the right light in all the right places." Ok, it doesn't quite work. But it is still true!
(For any baby Soylentils who may be reading this thread, a Newtonian telescope utilizes a mirror ground to a parabola in order to reflect light into a secondary, right-angle mirror that sends the converging cone of magnification to an eye-piece, where the focal point is realized. See, above [wikipedia.org] Nothing to do with looking at your own butt, as amusing as that seems to be to some, especially Runaway. Speaking of which, Runaway, what do you think about hemorroids and Uranus, these days?)
(Score: 2) by stretch611 on Thursday October 19 2017, @12:51AM (1 child)
I'm shocked... no jokes about Uranus??? It won't be renamed Urectum [theinfosphere.org] for another 603 years in 2620.
Now with 5 covid vaccine shots/boosters altering my DNA :P
(Score: 2) by krishnoid on Thursday October 19 2017, @01:00AM
Well, if this article [soylentnews.org] is anything to go by, Amazon may eventually consider directly delivering there as well.
(Score: 5, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 19 2017, @12:56AM (2 children)
You might be a skunk.
(Score: 4, Funny) by goodie on Thursday October 19 2017, @01:02AM
Finally, it took 20 comments for the first thing that came to my mind when I RTFS to be mentioned :D
(Score: 0, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 19 2017, @01:42AM
Or Aristarchus.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by istartedi on Thursday October 19 2017, @02:26AM
At that magnitude, binoculars should be enough to bring it out. I'll have to pull out the ol' charts and see if I can find it. It should have a distinct blue-green color unlike any nearby star. Thanks for cluing me in, Soylent. I don't follow astronomy like I used to so it's nice to see something like this posted.
Appended to the end of comments you post. Max: 120 chars.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 19 2017, @08:06AM
I just knew there was a hole in my pants!
(Score: 3, Insightful) by lx on Thursday October 19 2017, @08:54AM (1 child)
That's what we get for living in the city.
On the plus side, I can order takeout from 174 different places.
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Thursday October 19 2017, @03:50PM
And you still can't figure out what you want to eat for supper.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"