October 22, 2025: With the New Moon darkening the sky, use a binocular to find Uranus near the Pleiades and Neptune near Saturn. Both distant worlds are visible before bright moonlight returns next week.
by Jeffrey L. Hunt
Chicago, Illinois: Sunrise, 7:12 a.m. CDT; Sunset, 5:58 p.m. CDT. Times are calculated by the US Naval Observatory’s MICA computer program. Check local sources for sunrise and sunset times.
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With the New Moon phase occurring today, look for Uranus and Neptune during the next several evenings. While three bright planets – Venus, Jupiter, and Saturn are easily observed, Uranus and Neptune are more challenging and optical assistance is needed.
Uranus
Uranus is easier to see and in rural areas, it can be seen without a binocular, though outdoor light interferes with this observation in suburban settings.
It rises about one hour after sunset, but it is better observer later during the night. It is high in the south a few hours after midnight. The best observing times are from about five hours after sundown, when it is over halfway up in the eastern sky, until about two hours before sunrise, when it is high in high in the west-southwest.
Uranus is near the Pleiades star cluster, resembling a tiny dipper, which rides on the back of Taurus in celestial artwork. The star cluster is about 15° from the red-orange star Aldebaran.
Place the Pleiades in the upper right edge of the binocular field of view. Find the stars 13, 14, 32 and 37 Tauri (Tau). They are about the same brightness as aquamarine Uranus, and all of them fit into the binocular field with the star cluster.
Neptune
Neptune is in the same binocular field with Saturn, though it is considerably dimmer. Find it through a binocular. Because of its brightness, the most-distant planet in the modern solar system model is best seen about an hour before midnight when it is about halfway up in the sky, at its highest.
With Saturn to the lower right in the binocular field of view, find the stars 27 and 29 Piscium (Psc). They are about the brightness of Uranus, though bluish Neptune is only 1/10th this brightness.
To see faint celestial objects, move your eye around the field of view. These bodies are sometimes first viewed out of the corner of your eye, known as averted vision. Finding Neptune might take a few evenings of searching before it is viewed.
Look for Uranus and Neptune during the next week through a binocular, when bright moonlight washes out their views.
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