January 1-7, 2024: Uranus and Neptune, dim giant planets, are visible in the evening sky through a binocular.
by Jeffrey L. Hunt
Summaries of Current Sky Events
Summary for Venus as a Morning Star, 2023-24
Find Dim Planet Uranus
The solar system’s four largest planets, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, are in the evening sky after sundown. Find the dim giant planets this week. Bright Jupiter guides the way to see Uranus, while Neptune is a challenging view in Saturn’s vicinity.
Uranus is at the limit of human eyesight and can be seen in rural areas away from bright street lights. The planet was thought to be a distant star. During 1781, William Herschel noted that it moved against the distant starfield, from mid-March to late April.
Uranus is about one hundred times dimmer than Saturn and over two thousand, five hundred times dimmer than Jupiter. Even so, the planet is easy to find with a binocular. The planet is nearly midway from Jupiter to the Pleiades star cluster, but it does not fit into the same binocular field with either celestial wonder.
Here’s one way to find the planet. First locate the Pleiades star cluster in the binocular. It resembles a miniature dipper, standing on its handle, over halfway up in the east and over 25° from bright Jupiter.
While you are at the cluster, take enough time to inspect its sapphire stars, a few dozen of them.
Before looking for the planet, take a side trip to the Hyades star cluster and the ruddy star Aldebaran. Together, they make a sideways letter “V,” forming Taurus’ head. This pattern is over 10° below the Pleiades.
When ready to look for the planet, place the Pleiades star cluster to the lower left of the field of view. The stars Tau (τ Ari on the chart) and 63 in Aries appear at the right edge of the view. Next move the binocular so that Tau and 63 appear at the left edge of the view and the Pleiades are no longer in the field. The stars Zeta (ζ Ari) and Delta (δ Ari) in Aries join the other two stars. With Delta near the center, Uranus – dimmer than the other four stars, is toward the edge of the field near the four o’clock position. The planet is starlike and aquamarine in color.
To see the globe of planet Uranus use high power in a telescope.
Look for Neptune, A Challenging View
Neptune, on the other hand, is dimmer than Uranus and in a dim starfield. Begin with Saturn, that is about 30° up in the southwest. That distance corresponds to one-third of the way from the horizon to overhead, the point in the sky above your head, known as the zenith.
The Ringed Wonder is in the same starfield with Lambda Aquarii (λ Aqr on the chart) and Skat, Aquarius’ leg. During early January, they are at the corners of an equilateral triangle. Both stars are dim and a challenge to see in areas with an overabundance of outdoor lighting. Use a binocular to see them, but Saturn does not appear in the same binocular field with either star.
Star Hop to Neptune
Next star hop to Neptune. This is a technique of moving across the sky from one region to another by using stars that can be identified. Aquarius’ water jar, a triangle with a star in the middle, is about 12° to the upper right of Saturn (about two binocular fields), and the shape easily fits into a binocular field of view. The stars are dimmer than those in the Big Dipper.
Neptune is in front of Pisces, the constellation to the east of Aquarius. From the central star in the Water Jar, hop 15° – about two binocular fields – to the upper left to find the Circlet, a pattern of seven stars roughly in the shape of a circle, that represents the western fish in Pisces. If you have made it this far, you are close to the planet.
The most-distant planet in the modern solar system model, is about 5° below the star at the lower left corner of the Circlet. It is in the same binocular field, with 20 (20 Psc on the chart), 24, 27, and 29 in Pisces, 1.4° to the lower right of 20 Piscium. The stars are twice as bright as the planet.
To see this planet’s globe, a telescope is needed that has at least a six-inch lens or mirror to gather enough light to boost the view to high magnifications.
A computer-guided telescope will point directly to both planets and a phone app may help point the way easier. For classic sky watchers, finding the distant worlds without the help of gizmos and gadgets is half the fun. And like exploring a library, other interesting finds are possible.
Find these dim giant planets this week before the moon reenters the evening sky and moonlight washes over the dimmer stars.
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