First sighting of 2003 UB313 through eyepiece

[Kullat Nunu]

SpaceRef.com article: Amateur Astronomers Make First Sighting of 10th Planet Through Eyepiece of McDonald Observatory Telescope

Well, they needed the 2.1-m Otto Struve Telescope telescope for that, but nonetheless it was the first time the object was seen through eyepiece. Even then, it was near the limit of visibility. It gives some idea how dim the object actually is.

[umop ap!sdn]

Quite an exciting observation.

This is a magnitude 19 object and IIRC there are instruments that can detect 29th magnitude objects. Simply amazing!

[Wolverine]

I caught the press release yesterday, and was actually surprised that it took so long for someone to attempt a visual. Granted, access to that much aperture is hardly abundant, but still.