"Planet George At Its Brightest and Closest to Earth This Week, and How to Find It...Maybe"

Scheduled air date: 2001 Aug 20-26

Uranus—the 7th planet from the Sun—is presently visible (though dimly) in the constellation Capricornus.  The Waxing Gibbous Moon will appear to pass near the planet at the end of this month, and can be used to help you find it.
(Shown at midnight for mid-Northern latitudes.)

Uranus is moving slowly relative to the background stars, it's positions shown above at five-day intervals for the latter part of August.  The Moon will pass within about 3.5 degrees of the planet on the night of August 31st.
(The above is a simulated binocular view with a field of about 10 degrees.)

If you wish to view illustrations for other episodes, please see our Star Gazer Illustrated directory.

Illustrations on this page were created using TheSky Astronomy Software, an advanced desktop planetarium program designed for Windows. Copyright © 1999-2006 by Software Bisque, Inc.