From June 2006 to March 2009, Uranus continues its motion through Aquarius, the Water Carrier, where it has been located since early 2002. From March 2009, Uranus begins its passage through one of the zodiac's faintest constellations - Pisces, the Fishes.

Uranus reaches opposition to the Sun (when it is closest to the Earth and brightest in the sky for the year) every 369.6 days on average, i.e. about 4 days later in each successive year. The apparent magnitude of the planet varies little during the period shown in the star chart - from +5.7 (at opposition) to +5.9 (at superior conjunction).

Note that in 2010, Uranus reaches opposition on the same day as Jupiter (September 21st) with just five hours between their opposition times. Uranus will be positioned 0º.8 to the North of the Giant Planet.

In February 2009 Uranus will reach aphelion (its furthest point from the Sun; in this case 20.1 Astronomical Units or 3 thousand million kms) and consequently it will also be at its most poorly-placed orbital position for observation from the Earth. The situation only slowly improves and Earthbound observers will have to wait until 2050 (when the planet is in Leo) before it reaches perihelion (its closest point to the Sun, at 18.28 AU or 2.73 thousand million kms) to see the planet at its brightest and best. Despite the closeness, however, the planet's opposition magnitude will only increase by about 0.4 magnitudes to +5.3.

Uranus will cross the celestial equator in Pisces in April 2011 (heading North-eastwards and moving direct), then in October 2011 (moving retrograde and temporarily heading South-westwards) and again in January 2012 (resuming North-easterly motion, moving direct). For the first time in over 41 years, the planet will then become visible for a longer period of time in the Northern hemisphere than in the Southern hemisphere (it last crossed the celestial equator - heading South-eastwards along the ecliptic - in Virgo in 1969).

Looking further ahead, the planet will continue its Northward motion along the ecliptic until it reaches its most Northerly point in Gemini in 2034, having crossed its ascending node on the ecliptic (i.e. crossing the ecliptic from South to North) in Taurus in 2029.

 [Terms in yellow italics are explained in greater detail in an associated article describing planetary movements in the night sky.]

Twins Reunited

Further to the South-west (moving through Capricornus and, from 2010, through Aquarius) is Uranus' distant and elusive planetary 'twin' - Neptune. From the viewpoint of the Earth, faster-moving Uranus 'overtook' Neptune when they were in Sagittarius in July 1993 (at which point they were in conjunction, i.e. at the same celestial longitude). This was the first time the two planets had been seen at conjunction since these planets were discovered (Uranus in 1781, Neptune in 1846). Conjunctions of these two planets are rare events indeed, occuring about every 172 years; the next one will not take place until the year 2164.

Finding Uranus from 2006 to 2018

From late 2006 through 2007, pale-green Uranus was located to the South-east of the asterism (star pattern) unofficially known as 'The Steering Wheel', in the Northernmost region of Aquarius. Together with its nearby star Sadalmelik ( Aqr or Alpha Aquarii, apparent magnitude +2.9), 'The Steering Wheel' is the most recognisable feature of Aquarius (the complete constellation can be seen on the Neptune 2006-2023 page).

The 'Steering Wheel' is found by looking West of the Circlet of Pisces - five stars in a roughly circular formation, which form the head of the Fishes (there are actually seven stars in the circle; two fainter stars are not shown on the map). The Circlet is itself found by looking South of the Great Square of Pegasus - four fairly bright stars forming a near-perfect square. The four stars are (moving clockwise from North-east): Alpheratz ( And or Alpha Andromedae, mag. +2.0), Scheat ( Peg or Beta Pegasi, mag. +2.4v), Markab ( Peg or Alpha Pegasi, mag. +2.5) and Algenib ( Peg or Gamma Pegasi, magnitude +2.8v).

Once at the 'The Steering Wheel', a 'star-hop' will be required towards the South-east to the star  Aqr (Lambda Aquarii or 73 Aqr, mag. +3.7) which is shown in the above star map, next to the '2006 Nov' position of Uranus. This star, together with  Aqr (Phi Aquarii or 90 Aqr, mag. +4.2) should be the main reference points of all searches for the planet through to around early 2009. A finder chart will most likely be needed to locate the planet with certainty (of which, see below).

From early 2009, Uranus may prove a more tricky object to find because by then, the planet has moved into Pisces, a relatively faint constellation with no stars brighter than magnitude +3.6. This having been said, the track which the planet takes through the constellation is along a region of faint stars, so at any given time, Uranus will be one of the brightest objects - if not the brightest object - seen in the area immediately around its track (i.e. within a typical binocular field of vision).

From around April 2008 to early 2010, the planet can be found to the South of the Circlet; from mid-2010, a star-hop will be required to find the planet, moving Eastwards from the Circlet. Again, a finder chart will be needed to locate the planet with certainty.

Around all opposition dates shown on the map, the planet will be due South at local midnight in the Northern hemisphere (due North at local midnight in the Southern hemisphere).

Finding Finder Charts for Uranus on the Web

The above star chart is unlikely to prove sufficient to pinpoint the planet precisely, and a larger scale finder chart - showing a smaller area and fainter stars - will probably be required.

Accurate finder charts for locating Uranus are published on a variety of websites, such as Paul Money's AstroSpace site and the Royal Astronomical Society of New Zealand (in this case the available star chart shows the Southern hemisphere view, with South up and East to the right; they will need to be inverted for the Northern hemisphere view). Northern hemisphere charts for the current year can usually be found at the Sky & Telescope website by performing a search there on finding Uranus and clicking on the appropriate result. Charts at other websites can be found by using the following search engines (be sure to check the correct orientation of any chart found; it will need to be orientated North-up for Northern hemisphere observers and South-up for Southern hemisphere observers):-

Positions of the Superior Planets:

Current Position of the Sun and the Brighter Naked-Eye Planets (Star Map)

Credits

• The star chart was compiled using a variety of sources, including the commercial software 'MegaStar' (by Willmann-Bell, Inc) and the freely-downloadable SFA Star Charts by Dan Bruton. Star colours were based on those shown in "Patrick Moore's Colour Star Atlas" (Mitchell Beazley Publishers Ltd., London, 1973).
• The dates of the aphelion and perihelion point crossings were obtained from "The Guinness Book of Astronomy Facts and Feats (2nd Edition)" by Patrick Moore (Guinness Superlatives Ltd., Enfield, 1983). The dates of Uranus' crossing of the ascending node was determined using the SkyGazer Ephemeris utility by John Biondo. Dates of constellation boundary crossings were determined using MegaStar.
• The future conjunction date of Uranus and Neptune was calculated using the 'Sky Diary' facility of the commercial software RedShift 5 by Maris Technologies Ltd.

Copyright © Martin J. Powell  Dec 2006 with minor update Jan 2008

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