January 17, 2026: Uranus is visible near the Pleiades star cluster after nightfall. Learn when to look, how to use a binocular, and why Taurus makes this distant planet easier to find.
by Jeffrey L. Hunt
Chicago, Illinois: Sunrise, 7:15 a.m. CST; Sunset, 4:47 p.m. CST. Times are calculated by the US Naval Observatory’s MICA computer program. Check local sources for sunrise and sunset times.
Uranus with Taurus
While Jupiter and Saturn are the only two bright planets visible during the nighttime hours, fainter Uranus and Neptune are visible with optical assistance.
Uranus is easier to see than Neptune. The Tilted World is nearly ten times brighter than Neptune and near the limit of unaided vision. It is visible from rural locations on moonless nights. Before telescopes, the planet was cataloged as a star. Uranus is in front of Taurus’ rich star fields and is relatively easy to locate.
At the end of evening twilight, about 90 minutes after nightfall, Taurus is over halfway from the east-southeast horizon to overhead. It is above Orion, and the Hunter’s three belt stars form a line that points upward toward Taurus and downward toward Sirius.
Red-orange Aldebaran is Taurus’ brightest star. Along with the Hyades star cluster, a checkmark pattern, Aldebaran forms the “V” of Taurus, representing the bovine’s head. Two stars, Elnath and Zeta Tauri, extend northward, marking the Bull’s horns. Resembling a tiny dipper, the Pleiades star cluster rides on the animal’s back, less than 15° to Aldebaran’s upper right. Uranus is 5.2° to the cluster’s lower right, appearing as a faint aquamarine star.
Binocular View
Use a binocular to study the V of Taurus and the Pleiades. To locate Uranus, adjust the binocular slightly so the star cluster appears toward the upper left of the binocular field. Stars 13 and 14 Tauri are toward the lower right. Aquamarine Uranus is near star 13. The gap between Uranus and the star slowly widens as Uranus retrogrades through early February.
Sky watchers with modest telescopes can see Uranus as a small globe, while the stars remain points of light.
Look for Uranus until the moon brightens the sky as it approaches the First Quarter phase around January 25, and then again after early February when the moon begins to wane. After the Full Moon phase, the lunar orb rises later, opening a wider window to see the planet without moonlight’s interference.
Look for Uranus through a binocular. It is easy to locate in the same binocular field of view as Taurus’ Pleiades star cluster.
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