Uranus will be closest to Earth tomorrow and visible

You might not need a telescope to spot Uranus tonight.

The ice giant planet will reach opposition on Thursday, bringing it to the closest point in its orbit to Earth.

In this position, the blue-green planet will be visible in the sky all night long – and, while you’ll definitely be able to see it with binoculars, NASA says Uranus may even be bright enough to see with the naked eye.

 

Uranus will appear an ‘unmistakable’ blue-green dot in the sky as it reaches opposition this month, likely making it visible to the naked eye, according to NASA. And, it will be visible ‘for sure’ through binoculars 

THE ORIONIDS 

The Orionid meteor shower will peak on October 20 – a ‘dark, moonless night.’

During this time, 10-20 meteors per hour could be visible.

These meteors radiate from a point near the raised ‘club’ of the constellation Orion, EarthSky explains.

This begins rising in the east after midnight – but, as the meteors will be shooting out in all directions, they will appear in all parts of the sky.

Orionid meteors are the debris left behind by Comet Halley, which last flew past Earth in 1986, and are ‘extremely fast,’ travelling at about 66 kilometers (41 miles) per second, according to EarthSky.

Uranus will appear a blue-green dot in the sky as it reaches opposition on October 19.

This means the icy planet and the sun will sit on opposite sides of Earth.

During this time, it will be visible in the constellation Pisces.

‘It’s visible all night long and its blue-green color is unmistakable,’ according to Jane Houston Jones from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. 

‘It may be bright enough to see with your naked eye – and for sure in binoculars.’

The view of Uranus is just one of many celestial phenomena that can be seen from the ground this month, including a meteor shower.

Saturn will make an appearance in just a few days, sitting above the moon on October 23rd, and below it on the 24th, according to NASA.

And on Friday October 20th, the Orionid meteor shower will reach its peak. 

According to NASA, Uranus will reach opposition on October 19th, meaning the icy planet and the sun will sit on opposite sides of Earth. During this time, it will be clearly visible in the night sky, in the constellation Pisces

According to NASA, Uranus will reach opposition on October 19th, meaning the icy planet and the sun will sit on opposite sides of Earth. During this time, it will be clearly visible in the night sky, in the constellation Pisces

With the ‘dark, moonless night,’ roughly 10-15 meteors per hour could be visible in the predawn hours.

The bright asteroid 7 Iris will pass through the constellation Aries.

The false-color Hubble Space Telescope view reveals Uranus surrounded by its four major rings and by 10 of its 17 known satellites

The false-color Hubble Space Telescope view reveals Uranus surrounded by its four major rings and by 10 of its 17 known satellites

Just last week, another space rock, dubbed asteroid 2012 TC4, made a close shave with our planet at a distance of just 27,000 miles above the surface – or, as some scientists have put it, ‘damn close.’

With this close approach, NASA planned to test its network of observatories for its planetary defense system, in the event an asteroid did actually hit Earth.

‘Scientists have always appreciated knowing when an asteroid will make a close approach to and safely pass the Earth because they can make preparations to collect data to characterize and learn as much as possible about it,’ said Dr Michael Kelley, a scientist working on the NASA TC4 observation campaign.

On October 20th, the Orionid meteor shower will reach its peak. And, with the ¿dark, moonless night,¿ roughly 10-15 meteors per hour could be visible in the predawn hours

On October 20th, the Orionid meteor shower will reach its peak. And, with the ‘dark, moonless night,’ roughly 10-15 meteors per hour could be visible in the predawn hours

Earlier in the month, Mars and Venus were visible, with the two planets appearing close to each other on the 5th, before Venus rises above Mars. Saturn will also make an appearance next week 

‘This time we are adding in another layer of effort, using this asteroid flyby to test the worldwide asteroid detection and tracking network, assessing our capability to work together in response to finding a potential real asteroid threat.’

Asteroid 2012 TC4 first flitted past our planet in October 2012 at about double the distance of its next expected pass, before disappearing.

It’s estimated to be 30-100 feet (10-30 meters) in size.

But, after tracking it down this summer using the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope in Chile this summer, scientists confirmed it would make a safe pass.

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