January 24

January 24

Voyager at the Ice Giant

Sun Position

The Sun lies in Aquarius, about 19.5ยฐ south of the celestial equator. In the Northern Hemisphere the days are still short but lengthening; in the Southern Hemisphere this is high summer with long, warm evenings.

Sky Highlight

Uranus, a dim blue-green disk requiring binoculars or a telescope, drifts through the evening zodiac. Visible from both hemispheres.

Deep Sky Object

Uranus itself as a deep-sky target, an ice giant about 19 times farther from the Sun than Earth. Visible worldwide with optical aid.

Featured Star

Rigel (ฮฒ Ori), a blue-white supergiant in Orion, about 860 light-years away. Rigel, Orion's left foot, a blue supergiant 120,000 times the Sun's output.

Around This Date

  • January 24, 1986Voyager 2 flew past Uranus, the only spacecraft ever to visit the planet, discovering 10 new moons, 2 new rings, and a magnetic field tilted 60ยฐ from the rotation axis.
  • January 24, 1990Japan's Hiten became the first lunar probe from a nation other than the United States or Soviet Union, marking the beginning of a broader era of international lunar exploration.

We have seen Uranus up close exactly once.