Was that Uranus I saw?

Question

No. This is not a joke. Please people. (funny though)

Anyway, last night from 9pm to 10pm I happened to saw a planet.

However I was very sure which planet it was. I am thinking maybe Uranus? As you know, it is just a day or two after a full moon and the planet was south of the moon. (meaning when i was facing the moon, the planet was behind me) It was also rather bright and did kind of stood out.

Also, I often get confused with spotting Jupiter and Saturn. I understand Jupiter is brighter but it is often hard to tell the difference between them. Can anyone help me with this also?

Answer 1

I assume since you don't mention it you were not using a telescope. In that case there is simply no way the planet you describe could be Uranus. Uranus is barely a naked eye object in the darkest sites. It certainly doesn't stand out in the sky as an obvious planet. What you saw was most likely Jupiter, which is roughly opposite the Moon at the moment.

As far as identifying the planets, I suggest you go to this website:

www.heavens-above.com

Simply log on and enter your observing location and you can call up a chart of the whole sky which includes the planets that can be seen with the naked eye.

One final word on terminology: be careful using phrases like 'it was south of the Moon'. In astronomical terms 'south of the Moon' has a very different meaning than the one you elaborated on. As it happens, in astronomical terms last night Uranus WAS south of the Moon, but you would never have seen it without an optical instrument.

Answer 2

Last night, Uranus was only about 10 degrees south of the moon and about the same distance above the Horizon, so they were practically next to each other and Uranus would have been invisible lost in the glare of the full moon. Even under dark skies, Uranus is barely visible to the naked eye andneeds a Telescope to distinguish it from a star.
While Jupiter is still ( but Barely ) above the western Horizon in early evening, Saturn has already gone below the Horizon for the year and will re-appear in late winter.

Adolph

Answer 3

A serious answer:

No I really think it wasn't Uranus.
Here's the clincher: 'meaning when i was facing the moon, the planet was behind me'. This suggests to me it was in a completely different part of the sky from the moon, yet the sun, moon, and planets all roughly follow the same path through the sky, called the ecliptic, which corresponds to the plane of the Solar System. This suggests that it wasn't even a planet at all.

Secondly, you said it was bright. Uranus is not very bright because it is so far away. In fact, its magnitude varies between +5.6 and +5.9, meaning that it is only just visible to the naked eye.

Answer 4

You probably saw Jupiter as you need a telescope to see Uranus. At the moment Jupiter is high in the sky quite close to the red star Antares.
Look for the brightest object in the sky after the moon and you will find Jupiter. You will find that it does not twinkle like the stars (stars twinkle planets dont). At the moment Jupiter is the only planet visible in the evening sky. Jupiter shines with quite a yellowish colour and Saturn is paler.

Answer 5

A few days after the elcipse. Could be Mars.

You wouldn't see URanus with your eyes, you need a 6" telescope to see it.

Answer 6

hold on

I doubt it was uranus you saw, because it was very dim, and you would've needed at least binoculars to see it and a dark sky also

Answer 7

We can't see it, so who cares if it even exists?

Answer 8

Were there any clingons around uranus?

Answer 9

Sorry, I thought I had bought a smaller pair of pants...

I had to do it.

Answer 10

you saw an anus but not uranus. sorry i had too.