Ice giant to approach Earth on Monday

Ice giant planet Uranus will be at the nearest point from Earth on Monday, October 28.  

At 11:02 am Doha local time, Uranus will be at "opposition" with the Sun over Qatar Sky and all Arabic regions countries sky announced Qatar Calendar House (QCH). Uranus reaches its yearly opposition, when it is most directly opposite the sun as viewed from Earth, during October.

Dr Beshir Marzouk, an astronomer at QCH, said that this phenomenon is very important because it will be a good chance for astronomers to observe and study Uranus's surface; where it will be brightest and largest as it approaches Earth, moreover, it will be the best time to get good quality pictures of Uranus using astronomical telescopes as it will appear on sky full night from the evening of Monday till dawn of Tuesday.  

Uranus is the third-largest planet in our solar system and is very cold and windy. The ice giant is surrounded by 13 faint rings and has 27 small moons.

During the opposition phenomenon of Uranus with the Sun, the centers of three celestial objects (Sun, Earth, and Uranus) will be aligned in a straight line; moreover, Earth will be in between Sun and Uranus.

Uranus will lie at a distance of 18.88 Astronomical Unit (AU) from Sun's center (AU equal 149.6 Million Kilometer approximately).

Residents of Qatar will be able to observe the seventh planet from Sunset on Monday till sunrise on Tuesday, where the rise of Uranus over the eastern horizon of Qatar sky on Monday, will be at 5:52 pm Doha local time, while it will reach its highest point (77 degrees) at 11:15 pm Doha local time, then it will continue moving towards western horizon of Qatar sky; where the time set of Uranus on Tuesday, October 29, will be approximately at the same time of sunrise over Qatar sky, Dr Marzouk added.

_The Peninsula

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