I've been searching for Neptune the last few nights, with no success.  I have a pretty good idea where to look, but I'm wondering if I would even recognize it if I were to see it.  How much power is needed to resolve it as a non-stellar object?  Would 120x reveal its disc shape?  Maybe I am just not looking at the right stars; Capricornus is pretty low in the horizon, so maybe the reference star I'm looking for is washed out by the skyglow. 

I'm not expecting it to look impressive, but just knowing that it is out there makes me want to find it, just so I can say to myself that I have seen it...

Megawatt:

I've been searching for Neptune the last few nights, with no success.  I have a pretty good idea where to look, but I'm wondering if I would even recognize it if I were to see it.  How much power is needed to resolve it as a non-stellar object?  Would 120x reveal its disc shape?  Maybe I am just not looking at the right stars; Capricornus is pretty low in the horizon, so maybe the reference star I'm looking for is washed out by the skyglow. 

I'm not expecting it to look impressive, but just knowing that it is out there makes me want to find it, just so I can say to myself that I have seen it...

Neptune like Uranus is going to be tough in anything smaller than an 8" telescope. In my 6" they look too much like the neighboring stars with a slightly different color. In my 10" reflector I have to use above 220x magnification before I actually start to recognize the familiar disc of a planet. They still appear very small, nothing more than a dot where the only identifying features are their colors. of pale blue or pale green.

For those you need aperture, magnification, clear stable dark skies.

Have A Nice _________

Do any of you have pictures of Neptune or Uranus that you can share?

 What about finding (though it's no longer a planet) Pluto?
 

KrazyKolin:

Do any of you have pictures of Neptune or Uranus that you can share?

 What about finding (though it's no longer a planet) Pluto?
 

No I don't but I am sure someone here might.  Most often all you're going to get is a light blue spot.

I have attempted Pluto a few times with my 10" Newtonian with no luck. I really can't say whether or not I did or did not find it. I know I have been in the right area each attempt, however  It's so distant, small and faint that it would only resemble a faint start in the field of view.  At least with Neptune and Uranus with a high magnification you can make out a disc that is little larger than a small star with some discernible color.  Comparable to Jupiter through a pair of 7x35mm Tasco binoculars.  
Using a medium or small aperture telescope the planets beyond Jupiter are only nice to find just so you can say you did.

For those Planets you need Dark Clear Stable skies, and, Large Aperture and long focal length.  
Most people probably just overlook them because they aren't obvious like the other closer planets.

Have A Nice ___________

Actually, if anyone has pictures NOT from a telescope or at least one at high magnification, it'd be really helpful in getting an idea of what to visually look for by naked eye or through a finderscope. 

E_Look:

Actually, if anyone has pictures NOT from a telescope or at least one at high magnification, it'd be really helpful in getting an idea of what to visually look for by naked eye or through a finder scope. 

By naked eye it will only look like a small faint star, if you could see it at all. Any light pollution and you probably won't.   In a finder scope it looks like just another star with a hint of blue.
If this will give you a clear idea; through a 10" telescope and a magnification of about 250x to 300x it looks like a small pale blue dot about the size of a pea held at arms distance. It's not very impressive and is why most only find it to say they did.
 
A picture will not give you a good representation of what you will see naked eye, through a finder scope or even through an average size telescope.

What you need is a current chart indicating Neptune's current location. A good planetarium program can do this for you.  Set the configuration to show stars at a magnitude that you to what you would see through your finder scope.  Locate Neptune on the planetarium software an look at the stars surrounding it. Get familiar with those stars and any patterns they make.  review it in naked eye view to get a good idea where to look in the night sky when you go outside. Print copies of the chart if your software allows.  Then zoom to finder scope magnification and get familiar with that view and print that out also.  When you look through your finder scope look for the same patterns, then look for a faint pale blue dot. That should be Neptune.

Have A Nice __________ 

Yeah, I've been doing something very similar to that for other objects.  I haven't printed any images out yet, but rather try to memorize roughly the relative positions of things I'm looking for to some easier to spot objects.  These planetarium or sky simulators are very nice programs. 

Caught Neptune a few nights ago with my 15x70s - it kind of made the top left of a "Y" shape with 42 Capricorn, 44 Capricorn, and 45 Capricorn - all non-descript 5th/6th magnitude stars.

Neptune was dimmer than the aforementioned stars and I couldn't make out any disc, but I did detect the pale blueness of the alleged orb.

According to Stellarium, Neptune is now very near 42 Capricorn. I found 42/44/45 Capricorn by looking for three stars in a relatively straight line above Deneb Algedi (3rd mag) and Nashira (4th mag). Of course, as I'm new to the hobby there's probably an easier way to find it

This is a series of images taken by one of our club members. I was done with an 8" SCT with a web cam. This will give you an idea of the comparative sizes to expect in your eyepiece. If Jupiter has a certain size in your eyepiece then Neptune will be as comparatively as small in the same EP. Hope this helps.

JJ 

That is a good comparison,  That is what they all look like in my 10" Newtonian, actually a little smaller,  at approximately 240x magnification.

Have A Nice __________

There are finder charts for Uranus and Neptune and one for Pluto available at http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/highlights/17163851.html and http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/highlights/18340874.html

Dave Mitsky

Go to my blog to get some decent finder charts. I have found most others on the net to be to vague.

http://orionbackyardobservatory.blogspot.com/

I observed Neptune with 10x50 binocs and my 6 inch netwonian. It looks like a faint star, not very planet like at all.

Check in with my blog as I develop it. I plan do a lot of observingwith my 6 inch newtonian and publish my finder charts there. Uranus will be next, the all the messier objects.

Good Luck,

Brian C

Last summer we made a trip out to Joshua Tree National Park when my AR was still a brand new gismo . I was experiencing a great night as the Go-To function on the LXD75 mount was pointing perfect from one end of the sky to the other at 122x . toward the end of the viewing session I was fishing through the "Tonights Best" option on the hand box when I saw Neptune come up . I thought what the heck! So I hit Go-To , and there it was , smack dab in the center of my FOV . It was truly a small disc & the blue hue was fully evident . Wow! How cool! 

Yes, at magnifications of 200x or so Neptune is a small but clearly discernible disk, which I also see as having a bluish hue.

Dave Mitsky

I ran across this today, and found it interesting:

From Wikipedia:

Neptune will soon return (for the first time since its discovery) to the same position in the sky where it was discovered in 1846. This will happen three different times, along with a fourth in which it will come very close to being at that position. These are April 11, 2009, when it will be in prograde motion; July 17, 2009, when it will be in retrograde motion; and February 7, 2010, when it will be in prograde motion. It will also come very close to being at the point of the 1846 discovery in late October through early-mid November 2010, when Neptune will switch from retrograde to direct motion on the exact degree of Neptune's discovery and will then be stationary along the ecliptic within 2 arc minutes at that point (closest on November 7, 2010). This will be the last time for approximately the next 165 years that Neptune will be at its point of discovery.