Uranus and Mars — the Party Goes On

Once you've found Mars, aim your binoculars at the bright planet, focus sharply and then star-hop down to Uranus. One Jan. 30, 5.5° separate the two planets, equal to one binocular field of view. I've marked their positions on two dates — Jan. 30 and Feb. 15. There are no stars of similar brightness near Uranus, so it should be easy to identify. Stellarium with additions by the author


Back on Jan. 20, Mars and Uranus were in conjunction just 1.6° apart, a fine time to use a bright planet to find a faint one. I wanted to share the news at the time but got caught up in other things. Soon after, the bright moon made finding Uranus difficult. Now that dark skies have returned, let's give it another shake. Starting Jan. 30, the moon rises after the end of evening twilight, providing the window of darkness we need.

For the next few nights (Jan. 30 - Feb. 2) Mars shines within 5-7° of Uranus, close enough to star-hop from the brighter planet to the fainter with a pair of binoculars. The moon rises around 7:30 p.m. local time on Jan. 30, so try to get out between 7 and 7:30 when the sky is still dark. Cloudy tonight? Moonrise occurs more than an hour later on the 31st, opening up an even bigger window of dark sky.

Mars may outshine Uranus, but it's by far the smaller planet! The fact that it's almost 17 times closer makes all the difference. Lsmpascal CC BY-SA 3.0

Face southwest, tilt your head back and look up to find Mars. It's the only bright, colorful object in that region of sky. Then aim your binoculars at the Red Planet and focus sharply. Just 1.5° below it you'll see a 6th magnitude star. From that star slide about 4° to the lower right, and you'll spy another 6th magnitude "star." That's Uranus!

Both planets move eastward this season, but Mars is the faster by far because it's much closer to the Earth (and sun) and moves more swiftly. Uranus creeps along. That's to our benefit. It makes it easy keep track of the planet in the weeks ahead because it never strays far from where you'll see it tonight.  

Clear, dark skies and good luck!

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