The Uranus & Neptune

Date & Time:	Uranus: Jul 28 2007, 23:54 JST(+0900), composed 10sec. exposed 6 images
	Neptune: Jul 28 2007, 24:00 JST(+0900), composed 10sec. exposed 8 images
Optical:	Meade 25cm(10") Schmidt-Cassegrain, afocal method with Radian10mm eyepiece
	Synthesized focal length f=5725mm (equivalent f=26900mm in 35mm film format)
	Auto-guided with Meade LX200 Equatorial
Digital Camera:	OLYMPUS C-5060WZ
Location:	Ooizumi, Hokuto city, Yamanashi pref.

Camera Settings:	Mode.....SHQ (2592 x 1944, high-quality JPEG format)
	Lens.....f=22.9mm (equivalent f=115mm in 35mm film format), Stop: F4.8
	CCD sensitivity.....ISO100(Uranus), ISO400(Neptune), White Balance.....Auto

This picture shows you two planets revolving at a remote region of the solar system.
Uranus is the seventh planet with a cycle of revolution of 84 years and an average distance from the sun of 2.8 billion kilometers (1.75 billion miles). W. Herschel discovered the planet in 1781. You can observe the Uranus as a stellar-like image with 5th or 6th magnitude through binoculars.
The Uranus can be detected like a bluish green disk with the aid of large-sized telescopes with a magnifying power of over 200. But the planet has an apparent diameter of only 3 to 4 arc seconds; it's utterly impossible to make sure of the change of surface's pattern.
Next a farther planet of Neptune, the eighth planet of the solar system, has a revolution cycle of about 164 years and about 4.5 billion kilometers (2.8 billion miles) away from the sun. G.J.Galle, an astronomer in Berlin observatory, discovered the Neptune in 1841 around the predicted position calculated from the lag of Uranus's orbit.
The Neptune has an average magnitude of about 8, it's preferred to medium-sized scopes to only confirm the position. We amateur cannot observe the planet excepting its stellar-like image, and can be detected that the planet has somehow bluish color.

Change of Saturn's ring (1995-2012)

Movement of Pluto

		Copyright(c) 2007 by Naoyuki Kurita, All rights reserved.
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