To celebrate World Space Week, the Royal Astronomical Society will stream live views of the world Uranus in 3 separate webcasts on Friday, Saturday and Sunday (Oct. 8-10), and you can view it live here. Join astronomers and planetary scientists from the University of Leicester as they observe Uranus using NASAs Infrared Telescope Facility (IRTF) atop Mauna Kea in Hawaii. The webcasts start each day at 4 a.m. EDT (0800 GMT) and will end at 11:55 a.m. EDT (1555 GMT). You can watch live webcasts reside in the window above, courtesy of the Royal Astronomical Society, or tune in via YouTube.Related: Top 5 weird facts about mystical UranusNASAs Voyager 2 spacecraft captured this picture of the planet Uranus on Dec. 18, 1986. (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)Astronomers and planetary scientists from the University of Leicester are to lead devoted livestream observations of Uranus in partnership with the Royal Astronomical Society (RAS) to bring live images of the planet to the general public in the UK and around the world.Members of the general public are welcomed to view live video of the ice giant– 50,000 kilometres across and nearly 3 billion kilometres from Earth– as the experts look to determine and evaluate numerous aspects of its environment throughout 3 days of observations utilizing NASAs Infrared Telescope Facility (IRTF) on Mauna Kea, Hawaii. Uranus was very first found by Sir William Herschel in 1781, using a little telescope in his back garden in Bath. Herschel went on to become the founding president of the RAS in 1820. The cooperation follows a hugely effective RAS livestream in 2020, also led by Leicester scientists, which observed the shadow of the moon Ganymede pass across the face of Jupiter in real time.Observations of Uranus will take place from 9.00 am to 4.55 pm (BST) on Friday 8, Saturday 9 and Sunday 10 October 2021, and will be available to watch on the RAS YouTube channel.The observations will be led by Leicester PhD trainee Emma Thomas. She said:”Over these 3 days of observations, we will be developing the most in-depth infrared map of Uranus that we have actually ever completed (a full 360 degrees longitude), and by doing this we intend to spot and completely map the southern infrared aurora for the very first time ever.””My area of research is to investigate and fully map the infrared aurorae at Uranus, which is done by evaluating spectra (taking a look at the different wavelengths of light gotten from Uranus) from telescopes such as IRTF, Keck (also on Hawaii), and the Very Large Telescope in Chile.””The aurora of Uranus has been an enduring secret since the first detection of near infrared emissions back in 1993, but in the last four years we have actually begun to take the primary steps in comprehending the strange and fantastic aurorae we see at Uranus.”Dr Tom Stallard, Associate Professor in Planetary Astronomy at the University of Leicester, added:”We were blown away by the response to our livestream of Jupiter in 2015 and anticipate collaborating with the RAS once again as we concentrate on Uranus.”Its actually amazing to be able to share the thrill of live observations such as this, as the team– led by Emma– aim to map the emissions from a previously uncharted corner of our Solar System.”Lucinda Offer, Education, Outreach and Events Officer at the Royal Astronomical Society, included:”Were truly delighted to be able to share this live stream occasion from Hawaii with the general public so individuals can discover more about what astronomers do, as the groups in Leicester, Hawaii and at the RAS follow in Herschels footsteps. 240 years on Uranus is still a mysterious world, and in event of Women in Space for World Space Week, Emma and her associates will show us how astronomers are gradually unlocking its secrets.”As well as real-time observations of Uranus, each live stream will also include skilled guests from the Royal Astronomical Society, University of Leicester and other research institutions including the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). There will be chances to put questions to the researchers and more on how our understanding of this remote planet has altered over the previous two and a half centuries.Leicester researchers have also been assigned time on the distinguished James Webb Space Telescope, the most advanced observatory ever built, after it introduces later on in 2021. Dr Henrik Melin and Dr Leigh Fletcher, both of the School of Physics and Astronomy, are amongst the professionals who will study composition of the worlds environment, in a range of various spectra utilizing JWST. Dr Melin is thought about a world expert in determining the Uranus ionosphere with infrared measurements, and just recently presented his research at the Royal Society.Guests can sign up for the livestream totally free of charge on Eventbrite.Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.
(Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)Astronomers and planetary scientists from the University of Leicester are to lead devoted livestream observations of Uranus in partnership with the Royal Astronomical Society (RAS) to bring live images of the world to the public in the UK and around the world.Members of the public are welcomed to see live video of the ice giant– 50,000 kilometres across and nearly 3 billion kilometres from Earth– as the professionals look to measure and evaluate different aspects of its environment throughout three days of observations utilizing NASAs Infrared Telescope Facility (IRTF) on Mauna Kea, Hawaii.”The aurora of Uranus has actually been a long-standing secret given that the very first detection of near infrared emissions back in 1993, but in the last 4 years we have actually started to take the very first actions in understanding the fantastic and strange aurorae we see at Uranus.”As well as real-time observations of Uranus, each live stream will also include professional guests from the Royal Astronomical Society, University of Leicester and other research institutions including the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).
