[ Skywatchers ] [ Main Menu ]
46966
From: Eve, [DNS_Address]
Subject: ~11-09 : Uranus at Opposition (Aries) ~ Moon Approaches Mars (Taurus)
|
November 9, 2022: Uranus is at opposition after midnight. The planet is visible through a binocular. The bright moon moves toward Mars in Taurus. The lunar orb is near the Pleiades star cluster. chart: https://i0.wp.com/whenthecurveslineup.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/lune_pleiades_221109-b-t.png?resize=768%2C766&ssl=1 Uranus is at opposition after midnight, meaning Earth is between the planet and the sun. With the bright moon nearby, the planet is not easily found at this hour. Normally near the limit of eyesight from locales without bright outdoor lighting, the planet and background stars are washed out by the moonlight. Further, the planet is not near many bright stars. Uranus is retrograding in Aries, near Rho Arietis (ρ Ari on the chart), Pi Arietis (π Ari), and Sigma Arietis (σ Ari). The view is challenging even under moonless conditions. chart: https://i0.wp.com/whenthecurveslineup.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/uran_221109-b-t.png?resize=768%2C761&ssl=1 The planet is 9.4° to the lower right of the bright moon and too far away seeing both in the same binocular field of view as with yesterday’s lunar eclipse. It is aquamarine in color. Through a binocular, the planet resembles a star, but shows a globe through a telescope. An hour before sunrise, the moon appears in the same binocular field as the Pleiades. This is not an ideal view because the moon is very bright, intense enough to leave a temporary afterimage, like that from a photographic flash, after a long view through the binocular. chart: https://i0.wp.com/whenthecurveslineup.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/lune_pleiades_221109-b-t.png?resize=768%2C766&ssl=1 Initially, find the moon and the cluster, then move the binocular so that the moon is outside the field of view, leaving the stellar bunch.  Chart Caption – 2022, November 9: An hour before sunrise, the bright moon is with Mars and Taurus. |
Responses:
[46967]
46967
From: Eve, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: ~11-09 : Uranus at Opposition (Aries) ~ Moon Approaches Mars ...
|
sky maps link for lunar occultations Of Uranus 2022 (one happened just after the total lunar eclipse in Aries yesterday: http://www.lunar-occultations.com/iota/planets/uranus.png Here is today's post from spaceweather.com on the total lunar blood moon eclipse of Nov. 8 followed by lunar occultation of Uranus: URANUS AND THE OZONE FRINGE: During yesterday's lunar eclipse, most observers saw the Moon turn red. John Stetson of Sebago Lake, Maine, saw another color, too. "Blue! It's my favorite part of a lunar eclipse," says Stetson, who captured the phenomenon in this photo:  The blue is real. It's a sign of ozone. The core of Earth's shadow is red because it is filled with sunlight scattered by aerosols in the atmosphere. Sunsets are red for the same reason. However, the edge of Earth's shadow is blue. It contains light that has passed through the upper stratosphere where ozone absorbs red light and actually makes the passing light ray bluer. This is the origin of the "ozone fringe." Other observers saw it, too. That's not the only blue thing astronomers saw during the eclipse. Uranus made an appearance, too. The 7th planet from the sun is blue, and its azure disk popped out from behind the Moon during the eclipse. Bum-Suk Yeom sends this picture from Iksan, South Korea:  I used a 150 mm refractor to catch Uranus emerging from the shadowed edge of the Moon," says Yeom. Ths was the end of a lunar occultation of Uranus visible from parts of North America and Asia. Normally, the faint planet would be hard to see near the edge of a full Moon, but Earth's shadow darkened the lunar disk enough for easy visibility. more images of Uranus: from Philip Bradbury at The Bund, Shanghai; from Dr. Ski of Valencia, Negros Oriental, Philippines; from Masayuki Nakamura of Otawara, Japan; from Shahrin Ahmad of Semporna, Sabah, Malaysia; from M. Shiraishi of Kumagaya-shi, Saitama, Japan; |
Responses:
None
[ Skywatchers ] [ Main Menu ]