On Friday night, you will be able to see the seventh planet from the sun, Uranus.
Kelly Beatty, a senior editor at Sky & Telescope, joins Here & Now with detailed instructions on what to look for.
Tips for seeing Uranus
Kelly Beatty: “Uranus is the third-largest planet in our solar system (three times the diameter of Earth). But its orbit is so far away, nearly 2 billion miles from the Sun, that it looks very dim in the nighttime sky. Fortunately, Uranus is at its closest to Earth all year on the night of Nov. 21, and you can find it in the evening sky using this chart from Sky & Telescope.
“You won’t be able to see Uranus just by eye — you’ll need a pair of good binoculars or a small telescope, and pick a location without bright lights nearby.
“First, find the small but pretty Pleiades (“Seven Sisters”) star cluster by eye. The Pleiades are low in the eastern sky by around 7 p.m., but they’ll gradually move to almost overhead by 11 p.m.
“Then look to the lower right of the Pleiades by about 5° — the width of your middle three fingertips when you hold out your arm. That’s where to point the binoculars. You’ll see an uneven row of three stars (at the lower right corner of this chart), and the one on the left end is Uranus!
“If your sky is cloudy tonight, or if you can’t get to a dark location, don’t worry: Uranus will be in this same location for several weeks, and the evening sky will be free of bright moonlight until about Thanksgiving. You can also use a stargazing app on your phone to help you.”
This article was originally published on WBUR.org.
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