The ice giant Planet Uranus will be opposite the sun over Qatar Sky and all Arabic regions countries on Thursday at 10.21pm Doha local time, Qatar Calendar House (QCH) announced.
This phenomenon is very important because Uranus planet will reach its nearest point from Earth, consequently it is the best time to observe the planet by naked eye or telescopes. Moreover, it will be available over Qatar sky all night, Astronomer at (QCH) Dr. Beshir Marzouk said.
Residents of Qatar will be able to observe Uranus as blue point for much of the night, where it will be seen over eastern horizon of Qatar sky after sunset. Uranus will reach 21 degrees above eastern horizon at 6:35 pm Doha local time, then reach its highest point in the sky (74 degrees above Southern horizon) at 11:18pm Doha local time, then continue moving towards western horizon direction of Qatar sky; where it will become inaccessible around 4:05am of next day above western horizon of Qatar sky.
It will be at the nearest point of the Earth, and the center of three celestial objects (Sun, Earth and Uranus) will be aligning on straight line, moreover Earth will be in between Sun and Uranus.
Dr Marzouk added, Opposition of Uranus occurs approximately every year, and the last time it occured on October 15, 2016, while it will be at opposition again next year on October 23.
Uranus is the seventh planet from the sun’s center, and it is the third largest planet in our solar system; Uranus is very cold and windy. The ice giant is surrounded by 13 faint rings and have 27 small moons, moreover it was the first planet found with the aid of a telescope.
