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Uranus: Rare chance to spot planet in January

UranusImage source, NASA
Image caption,

The atmosphere on Uranus is thought to smell like rotten eggs

Have you always desperately wanted to see Uranus? Well, you will get a rare chance to spot it if you look up in the night sky this month.

Nasa says space fans will have an "easy opportunity" to see the planet on 20 January.

Uranus is made up of ice and rock making it the coldest planet in the solar system with temperatures of -224 Celsius!

The icy giant is usually not clear enough to see without special equipment because it is billions of kilometres away from Earth.

How to spot Uranus

Image source, Science Photo Library
Image caption,

You'll need binoculars or a telescope to help to you track down Uranus

On 20 January, wait for the sun to go down, and then look for the moon after dark.

Once you've found it, look up and find Mars, which has a reddish colour.

"Scan your way over from Mars toward the moon, and you should be able to find the faint, bluish disk of Uranus," says Nasa on their website.

Image source, Science Photo Library
Image caption,

Uranus (pictured second from right) is the seventh planet from the Sun (pictured far left)

While you're staring into Uranus, count yourself lucky that you're a long, long way from the planet.

That's because it smells like rotten eggs due to hydrogen sulphide gas in its clouds.

Uranus must absolutely stink!

Will you be on the look out for Uranus this month? Let us know in the comments!