2024, December 26: See Planets Uranus and Neptune in Nightly Planet Display

December 26, 2024: Dim planets Uranus and Neptune are visible during the nightly planet display that includes Venus, Saturn, Jupiter, and Saturn

2021, November 28: Venus, Saturn, and Jupiter are lined up in the southwestern sky as if they are in a parade.
Photo Caption – 2021, November 28: Venus, Saturn, and Jupiter are lined up in the southwestern sky as if they are in a parade.

by Jeffrey L. Hunt

Chicago, Illinois: Sunrise, 7:17 a.m. CDT; Sunset, 4:26 p.m. CST.  Check local sources for sunrise and sunset times. Times are calculated by the US Naval Observatory’s MICA computer program.

For morning sky watchers, see these articles:

Nightly Planet Display with Uranus and Neptune

During the evening hours, four bright planets are visible from the east-northeast to the west-southwest.  Dim Uranus and Neptune are visible in this celestial display.  Use a binocular to see them.

Venus, Saturn, and Uranus

Uranus and Neptune
Chart Caption – 2024, December 26: Venus, Saturn, and Neptune are in the southwestern sky, two hours after sundown and shortly after twilight ends.

Each night Venus begins the display about 30 minutes after sundown, as it shines from the west-southwest.  Look eastward for Jupiter.  Scan the eastern sky during bright twilight for this evening’s second brightest starlike body.

As the sky darkens further, Saturn, considerably dimmer than Venus, is over 20° to Venus’ upper left as the brilliant planet nears a conjunction tomorrow evening with Capricornus’ tail star, Deneb Algedi.

The Ringed Wonder is about 20° above the star Fomalhaut, the mouth of the Southern Fish.  After Venus, Saturn and the star are the brightest stars in this region of the sky.

Neptune through a Binocular

Uranus and Neptune
Chart Caption – 2024, December 26: Through a binocular. Neptune is in a dim starfield near 20 Piscium (20 Psc) and 24 Piscium (24 Psc).

By two hours after sundown and shortly after the end of evening twilight, Neptune is found in a dim Pisces starfield, less than 15° to Saturn’s upper left.  This most-distant planet in the modern solar system model is a challenge to see because it is in a faint starfield, without a bright star to use as a reference, and many sky watchers live where outdoor lighting washes into the sky to spoil the views of celestial sights.

Dim bluish Neptune is in the same binocular field of view with 20 Piscium (20 Psc on the chart) and 24 Piscium (24 Psc).  The planet is dimmer than the referenced stars on the accompanying star chart.

Jupiter, Uranus with Taurus

Uranus and Neptune
Chart Caption – 2024, December 26: Two hours after sunset, Jupiter and Uranus are in the eastern sky.

Farther eastward, bright Jupiter, less than halfway up in the east, is in front of Taurus, 6.0° to Aldebaran’s upper left.  Resembling a tiny dipper, the Pleiades star cluster, less than 15° to Jupiter’s upper right, is the reference for Uranus.  Over eight times brighter than Neptune, Uranus is visible from dark locations to the unassisted eye.

In light-polluted suburban areas, the planet is visible through a binocular, nearly 8° to the Pleiades right, and outside a binocular field that holds the star cluster and planet simultaneously. 

Uranus and Neptune
Chart Caption – 2024, December 26: Uranus is in the region of Tau Arietis (τ Ari), 63 Arietis (63 Ari) and 65 Arietis (65 Ari).

Use the binocular to find a triangle of stars, anchored by Tau Arietis (τ Ari on the chart), 63 Arietis (63 Ari) and 65 Arietis (65 Ari), all about Uranus’ brightness.  Notice that 63 Arietis is distinctly topaz in color compared to the other two blue-white stars.  Aquamarine Uranus is 2.8° to the lower right of Tau Arietis.

Mars Rises Later

Uranus and Neptune
Chart Caption – 2024, December 26: Three hours after sundown, Mars is low in the east-southeast below Pollux, a Gemini Twin.

Mars rises less than two hours after sundown.  Mars’ opposition, when Earth passes between the Red Planet and the sun, occurs next month.  By three hours after sundown, it is over 10° above the east-northeast horizon, rivaling Sirius’ brightness, less than 5° above the east-southeast horizon, and likely twinkling wildly.  Mars retrogrades in front of Cancer, less than 10° to Pollux’s lower right, one of the Gemini Twins.

See Uranus and Neptune with Nightly Display

At this hour, four bright planets span the sky from east-northeast to west-southwest and the two dimmer worlds are located between Saturn and Jupiter. Find clear horizons to see Venus in the west-southwest and Mars in the east-northeast, simultaneously.  A binocular assists with Uranus and Neptune.

Take a look for them during the next several nights.

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