STARGAZERS will get a rare opportunity to spot Uranus this weekend.
The seventh planet from the Sun will appear unusually close to the Moon on Sunday, making it easy to spot its faint light in the night sky.
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All you’ll need is a pair of binoculars or a small telescope to identify the icy giant, which lies a whopping three billion kilometres from Earth.
According to Forbes, Uranus is currently visible in the constellation of Aries and will be for years.
The best time to see it this weekend is after dark on Sunday, March 6.
The planet will also be on view on Saturday and Monday night but won’t be as close to the Moon, making it trickier to spot.
Once you’ve picked a spot, look for the Moon. Uranus will be just a degree north – above – of Earth’s rocky neighbour.
Generally speaking, a degree in the night sky is taken to be about the width of one of your fingers held in front of you.
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Only on Sunday will Uranus appear this close to the Moon, with the pair setting set around 10:30 p.m. – so make sure to catch them before then.
The light from the Moon – which will only be about 20 per cent illuminated – will likely obscure Uranus to the naked eye.
However, if you’ve got a pair of binoculars or a small telescope, you should be able to see it with relative ease.
It will be shining in the Western sky right after dark, making this the best time to pop out for a viewing.
It might be the “butt” of many a bad joke or pun, but Uranus is one of the most fascinating planets in our Solar System.
The icy outer world has 27 moons and gets its blue-green colour from methane gas in the atmosphere.
Sunlight passes through the atmosphere and is reflected back out by Uranus’ cloud tops.
Methane gas absorbs the red portion of the light, resulting in a blue-green colour.
According to scientists, the seventh planet in our solar system stinks of rotten eggs.
Researchers at Oxford University discovered the ice giant is surrounded by hydrogen sulphide clouds under a layer of methane.
The chemical is the same which give rotten eggs their characteristic whiff.
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In other news, the mystery surrounding why prehistoric Brits built Stonehenge has finally been solved after research confirmed that the monument served as an ancient solar calendar.
In other news, the iPhone’s virtual assistant, Siri, is getting a new, “gender-neutral” voice.
A British woman has told of her horror after scammers used photos of a “silver fox” politician to trick her out of £80,000.
And, Norfolk County Council is suing Apple over what it says was misleading information about iPhone sales.
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This post first appeared on Thesun.co.uk
