Orpington Astronomical Society

Astronomy => Alerts! Questions? Discussions... => Topic started by: john.clark on Aug 06, 2009, 21:56:43

Title: Now after all those lewd remarks I've measured how far away Uranus is
Post by: john.clark on Aug 06, 2009, 21:56:43
I used the same method as for Neptune, using my old data from last winter.  The result is at http://www.finerandd.com/astronomy/Uranus_circular_orbit_method.pdf (http://www.finerandd.com/astronomy/Uranus_circular_orbit_method.pdf).

The basic assumption is that Uranus and Earth follow coplanar, circular orbits. I compare its position against catalogued stars as it moves through the heavens; and do some geometry.

Uranus is quite close to its aphelion at the moment.  I got the distance pretty well smack on the distance at the last opposition, and my predicted opposition time is 11 hours late.  Because I have calculated a period based on what is essentially the aphelion distance, this period is a bit long. 

It's actually 84.3 years. My dad turned 84 this year, so I surprised him more than slightly by sending him a "one year old" birthday card and explained that he is one Uranian year old.