The butt of every space joke is high in the sky this week
This week, you can look to the night sky to see the butt of every planetary joke.
Make your way to a relatively dark, light pollution-free area to see the planet Uranus high in the sky, glowing a blue-ish, green color in the constellation Pisces, according to NASA.
Tonight will likely be your best chance to see the gaseous, outer planet because it's reached opposition, meaning the Earth will be between Uranus and the sun.
"It's visible all night long and its blue-green color is unmistakeable," NASA said in a video about the skywatching event. "It may be bright enough to see with your naked eye -- and for sure in binoculars."
It's a special thing to be able to see Uranus.
The planet doesn't usually shine very brightly when it's visible in the night sky, so take the opportunity to check it out in all its glory during opposition.
Uranus is a weird world.
The cold gas planet has more than a dozen rings and 27 known moons orbiting it. And strangely enough, the planet is rotated on its side, probably due to a giant impact early in its history, according to NASA.
Uranus isn't the only celestial sight to check out this month either.
Saturn will be near the moon on Oct. 23 and Oct. 24, and the Orionid meteor shower peaks on Friday.
"Look near Orion's club in the hours before dawn and you may see up to 10 to 15 meteors per hour," NASA said.
Miriam Kramer worked as a staff writer for Space.com for about 2.5 years before joining Mashable to cover all things outer space. She took a ride in weightlessness on a zero-gravity flight and watched rockets launch to space from places around the United States. Miriam received her Master's degree in science, health and environmental reporting from New York University in 2012, and she originally hails from Knoxville, Tennessee. Follow Miriam on Twitter at @mirikramer.
