January 24
Voyager at the Ice Giant
Sun Position
The Sun lies in Aquarius, about 19.5° 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 (β 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 60° 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.