I just saw Uranus! I just saw Uranus!

eldorado99

Lifer
Feb 16, 2004
36,324
3,163
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I never thought Uranus would be so small.

Seriously though anyone the least bit interested in astronomy should check this program out: http://www.stellarium.org/ It tells you what is visible in the sky from where you are and when.

I've been getting into it over the last couple of months just using binoculars. Its amazing what you can see without a telescope, including the Andromeda galaxy, Orion nebula, and Uranus!
 

SKORPI0

Lifer
Jan 18, 2000
18,463
2,397
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Your anus?????D:

jan2008_uranus.gif
 

pray4mojo

Diamond Member
Mar 8, 2003
3,647
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0
I live in LA so I would need a damn powerful telescope just to see Uranus.
 

eldorado99

Lifer
Feb 16, 2004
36,324
3,163
126
Does light pollution affect your observations?

Yes to some degree. Not nearly as bad as some of my friends' houses who live closer to local townships though. Last couple of days have been especially cold and clear though, been a pretty cool view lately. I've been up camping before and seen the night sky in amazing detail, up north is supposed to be even better.
 

iamwiz82

Lifer
Jan 10, 2001
30,772
13
81
So you're the guy at the gym who always has that weird look when others bend over...
 

OCGuy

Lifer
Jul 12, 2000
27,224
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91
There is an ass joke in here somewhere. It is not easy to spot, but I bet the brighter people get it!
 

zerocool84

Lifer
Nov 11, 2004
36,041
472
126
I live in LA so I would need a damn powerful telescope just to see Uranus.

Go to the beach or the many hills that are close by. That's what I do when there's a meteor shower or something else cool in the sky to look at. This week won't be good at all though since it's ganna rain and we're covered in clouds.
 

Spacehead

Lifer
Jun 2, 2002
13,067
9,858
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Neptune's right next to Jupiter. Try going for that next time. Or any of the visible moons of Jupiter.
 
Oct 27, 2007
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For LA you just need to drive 20min out from the city to get clear skies.
20 mins out of a city they won't be that clear. I live in much smaller cities and there is a gigantic difference between 20 mins drive and 3 hours drive from the city in terms of sky clarity.
 

eldorado99

Lifer
Feb 16, 2004
36,324
3,163
126
Neptune's right next to Jupiter. Try going for that next time. Or any of the visible moons of Jupiter.

I might have a look for it, it has an apparent magnitude of nearly 8 so it might not be possible to see even with binoculars (Uranus was nearly 6 and lower is brighter, logarithmic scale too, so Uranus is roughly 4 times brighter than Neptune from here).

I've seen the four largest moons of Jupiter, they were one of the first things I found when I started using Stellarium (besides Jupiter itself of course which is incredibly bright at the moment).
 
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