Friday evening January 31st there is an opportunity to see or at least visualize the inner and outer areas of our solar system. About an hour or so after local sunset look toward the western horizon for the brightly shining inner planet Venus with a -4.0 apparent magnitude. Nearby, about 5o west from Venus, is the outermost of the 8 planets, Neptune. However with an apparent magnitude of 7.94 Neptune would only be visible with an optical aid – the larger the better.
Look further east and higher for the 7-day old waxing crescent Moon to be between the outer planet Uranus and the Dwarf Planet Eris. About 9o below the Moon is the Dwarf Planet Eris with an apparent magnitude of 18.60 – definitely not naked-eye visible. Above the Moon by about 5o is the outer planet Uranus, just barely visible to the naked-eye with an apparent magnitude of 5.80.
Click here to go to the Qué tal in the Current Skies web site for monthly observing information, or here to return to bobs-spaces.
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