However, as a rule, small binoculars are needed to form the seventh planet in the sky. The details of the gas giant can only be seen in images taken with large telescopes on Earth or with the Hubble and James Webb spacecraft.
To study Uranus’ moons closely, an on-site space probe is required. So far, only Voyager 2 has crossed the planet, more than thirty years ago.
After passing Jupiter, Pluto’s New Horizons probe headed for Pluto without examining the planets between them.
China wants to go to Uranus
China is now considering building on its long-neglected Uranus mission: Tianwen-4 will be a double launch with a larger Jupiter probe and a smaller Uranus probe.
Tianwen means “heavenly question”. The first probe of this name landed on the surface of Mars. The second is to bring samples from asteroids and the third from Mars to Earth.
Then Jupiter and Uranus are on the agenda. Uranus is located about three billion kilometers from Earth. Even with a launch in ten years, the spacecraft probably won’t reach the planet before 2040 and will explore its somewhat irregular atmosphere and icy moons.
Until then, Uranus will remain a blue-green dot in the swarm of stars tonight a little to the right of the full moon.
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