Astronomy with a Budget Telescope by Patrick Moore & John Watson

Author:Patrick Moore & John Watson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Springer New York, New York, NY

Uranus and Neptune

Observing these objects is not for beginners. With almost any amateur telescope they will appear as faint star-like dots.

These outer giants are around 30,000 miles (48,000 km) across. Uranus is just visible with the naked eye if you know where to look for it, but to see Neptune you require optical aid, either binoculars or a telescope.

Uranus is fairly easily found if you have an adequate star-map; our typical small telescope will show that it looks rather larger and dimmer than a star. Neptune can also be located without much trouble, but in our budget-priced telescope it will look just like a faint star. You will need a reasonably detailed star-map or planetarium program if you want to identify it.

Both these outer planets are slow movers; Uranus takes 84 years to orbit round the Sun, while Neptune requires nearly 165 years. Neptune was discovered only in 1846; this is less than one Neptunian year ago!

Pluto, as we have said, is out of range for low-cost telescopes. To see it at all, even as a tiny point, you need an aperture of at least 8 inches (200 mm).

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