WASHINGTON — Stargazers had a chance to see one of our solar system's outermost planets on Monday night: Uranus.
The ice giant, which is the planet seventh furthest from the sun, reached opposition on Nov. 13. That means the earth was in between the sun and Uranus. It' also made its closest approach to earth, making it appear brighter as well.
Another factor helping out skywatchers is that Monday marked the new moon, which should help provide dark conditions.
According to NASA, the easiest way to find Uranus was to look overhead just after midnight on Nov. 13. It was located halfway between Jupiter and the glow of the Pleiades star cluster. Robert Lea of Space.com notes the seventh planet from the sun was visible within the constellation Aries.
Even with the new moon on Monday, Uranus may just look like a bright blinking star in the night sky - it is located around 1.8 billion miles from Earth after all; however, its blue-green hue always gives away its true identity.
Earlier this year, Uranus was part of a five-planet parade lining up in the night sky also featuring Saturn, Neptune, Jupiter and Mercury.
Facts about Uranus
- Uranus is known as the “sideways planet” because it rotates on its side.
- Uranus was discovered in 1781 by William Herschel.
- Uranus was the first planet found using a telescope.
- Uranus is an Ice Giant planet and nearly four times larger than Earth.
- Uranus has 27 known moons, most of which are named after literary characters.
- Like Saturn, Jupiter and Neptune, Uranus is a ringed planet.
- One Uranus day is 17 Earth hours.
- One Uranus year is 84 Earth years.
- Voyager 2 is the only spacecraft that has visited Uranus.
