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March 24: Catch M18 before dawn
Although Uranus was difficult to spot earlier in the week with a waxing Moon nearby, now is a great time to take a peek at the distant world. After dark, you’ll find Taurus the Bull still about 30° high in the west. Easy to find is the Pleiades star cluster near Taurus’ northeastern corner, and this is our starting point tonight.
About 4.5° south-southwest (to the lower left this evening) of the Pleiades is a pair of stars that should pop into view in binoculars or any small scope. Sitting just 20’ apart in an east-west line, these are magnitude 6.1 14 Tauri and magnitude 5.7 13 Tauri. The fainter of the two, 14 Tau, sits just 5’ due north of Uranus this evening.
Uranus is slightly brighter than 14 Tau — at magnitude 5.8, it will more closely match the brightness of 13 Tau nearby. But Uranus will look like a somewhat “flat,” grayish star, rather than a pinprick of light. Its tiny disk spans just 3”, but may appear circular under good conditions and especially in larger scopes.
Sunrise: 6:55 A.M.
Sunset: 7:18 P.M.
Moonrise: 11:17 A.M.
Moonset: 2:27 A.M.
Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous (54%)
*Times for sunrise, sunset, moonrise, and moonset are given in local time from 40° N 90° W. The Moon’s illumination is given at 10 P.M. local time from the same location.
