Uranus
The. next. planet. beyond. Saturn. is. Uranus,. the. first. of.
those.to.have.been.discovered.(in.1781.by.Sir.William.
Herschel,. an. “amateur”. astronomer. who. made. all. of.
his. own. telescopes),. the. five. bright. ones. having. been.
known.since.antiquity..With.a.suitable.chart.for.the.year.
you.are.observing,.you’ll.have.no.problem.picking.it.out..
In. your.Astroscan. at. 16X,. Uranus. is. a. star-like. object.
with.a.slightly.greenish.cast..Unlike.the.stars,.however,.
it. moves. very. slowly. from. night. to. night!. If. you. locate.
the.field.where.it’s.“hiding”.one.night.and.make.a.sketch.
of.the.stars.seen,.then.come.back.again.a.week.later,.
Uranus.will.be.the.“star”.that’s.moved..Switching.to.the.
15. mm. (30X). eyepiece,. inspect. Uranus. carefully. and.
compare.it.to.stars.of.the.same.brightness..Its.planetary.
disk.is.quite.small,.but.under.good.conditions.its.image.
will.look.distinctly.“fatter”.than.a.star’s..Its.greenish.tinge.
is.another.tip-off.that.you’ve.really.found.another.planet!
Neptune
Beyond. Uranus,. and. somewhat. fainter. and. smaller. in.
apparent.size.due.to.its.greater.distance,.lies.Neptune,.
the.last.of.the.big.four.gas.giants..It.too.requires.a.finder.
chart,. some. patience,. and. higher. power. for. definite.
confirmation. that.you’ve. found.it;.its. pale. bluish. tint.is.
another.sign..
While. there. aren’t. any. features. visible. on. these. outer.
denizens.of.the.solar.system,.just.knowing.that.they’re.
there.and.you.are.seeing.them.with.your.own.eyes.(with.
a.little.help.from.the.Astroscan,.of.course).will.give.you.
great. satisfaction.. (Pluto. is. so. faint. and. remote. that. it.
takes. an. aperture. at. least. twice. that. of. the.Astroscan.
and.a.trained.eye.to.glimpse.it..As.most.everyone.has.
heard,. it’s. now. been. demoted. by. astronomers. to. the.
status. of. a. “dwarf. planet”. due. to. its. small. size. –. less.
than.that.of.our.Moon!)
Comets
Your.new.Astroscan.is.an.ideal.instrument.for.viewing.
the.brighter.and.larger.comets.that.appear.in.the.skies.
of.Earth.from.time.to.time,.as.they.complete.their.long.
orbits.about.the.Sun.out.of.the.depths.of.the.solar.system..
Many. of. these. are. predicted. returns. of. previously.
discovered. comets. but. others. are. new. discoveries.
–.some.of.them.by.amateur.astronomers.typically.using.
low-power,. wide-field. scopes. like. the. Astroscan. to.
sweep.the.skies.for.them..Comets.are.named.after.their.
discoverers!.Whether.you.ever.discover.one.or.not,.the.
view.of.a.Great.Comet.(like.Hale-Bopp.that.appeared.
in.the.mid-90’s.and.graced.our.skies.for.nearly.a.year).
is. something. to. behold. with. its. bright. nucleus. trailed.
by. a. magnificent. long. sweeping. tail.. The. monthly.
astronomy.magazines.mentioned.on.page.13.report.on.
both. returning. and. newly. discovered. comets. to. keep.
stargazers.updated.on.their.appearance.
Comet 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 3 - Fragment B:
Apr. 20, 2006
Phtoo Credit: NASA, ESA, H. Weaver (APL/JHU),
M. Mutchler and Z. Levay (STScI)
