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Uranus reached its point of opposition and is illuminated by the sun tonight
The seventh planet from the sun will appear from all across the solar system as a “blue-green” disk in the night skies.
Uranus has reached its point of opposition between Wednesday October 18 and Thursday October 19, meaning it sits directly opposite the sun.
This celestial dance of planet and star illuminated the ice giant to its brightest level, making it visible to the naked eye.
This is an incredible moment because the planet is located a staggering 1.77 billion miles away from Earth.
What is the best time to see Uranus in your area tonight?
Uranus already reached opposition at midnight last night, but the planet will stick around for about 24 to 36 hours.
National Geographic have suggested that the best time to observe Uranus, is after sundown when the skies are dark and clear.
However even at its brightest, the blue planet will only shine about as much as the average star.
This could be a problem for some untrained eyes, but the pale blue dot should be easily picked up with a pair of binoculars – so no need for telescopes.
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Uranus Opposition: The blue planet is one of two ice giants orbiting the sun
Jane Houston Jones from Nasa’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, explained: “It’s visible all night long and its blue-green colour is unmistakable.
It may be bright enough to see with your naked eye – and for sure in binoculars
“It may be bright enough to see with your naked eye – and for sure in binoculars.”
If you do however have a powerful telescope at hand, you might be even able to spot its five moons: Titania, Miranda, Umbriel, Oberon and Ariel.
Where will Uranus be visible?
The blue planet will be visible in the Pisces constellation at a brightness magnitude of around 5.68.
In comparison, the sun has magnitude of -26.72, and Sirius, the second brightest star we can see from Earth, has a magnitude of -1.46.
NAKED EYE PLANETS
Uranus: The chart maps out Uranus’ celestial path through to December 2017
The good news however is that the lack of strong moonlight tonight should help keep the skies clear of any interference.
Unfortunately next year’s opposition on January 23, 2018, will be drowned out by the presence of a full moon.
Some facts about Uranus:
Uranus is the third largest planet in the solar system, and together with Neptune, is one of the two ice giants orbiting the sun.
The planet was discovered in 1781 by British astronomer Sir William Herschel, who incidentally made the first ever planetary discovery with a telescope.
Up until the landmark finding, Uranus was considered to be just another star.
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Following years of intensive research, scientists now believe that Uranus has a rocky core surrounded by layers of liquid water ammonia, and frozen hydrogen and helium.
Researchers at UC Berkeley even astonishingly claimed that solid diamonds rain on the planet.
The diamonds form when extreme pressures squeeze together carbon and hydrogen in the atmosphere.
“Once these diamonds form, they fall like raindrops or hailstones toward the centre of the planet,” said Laura Robin Benedetti, from UC Berkeley.
Uranus is the only planet in the solar system not named after a Roman god, but rather after the Greek god Ouranos.