Webmaster  © Paul L Money 2011/2012

Finder charts for Uranus and Neptune for the year

The outer planets of Uranus and Neptune are easier to locate than some literature would suggest - Uranus is borderline naked eye whilst Neptune is within the range of 10x50 binoculars - both under dark skies. Good charts showing their position help and so it is hoped that the charts presented here will aid in finding these two more distant worlds.

The charts show the motion of both planets against the background stars and gives an idea of how far each moves across the sky during the year. The yellow arrows indicate the direction of Retrograde motion of the planets and the blue arrows indicate the direction of Prograde (normal) motion. The orange section of each planets path indicates the time when they are too close to the Sun to observe easily and Conjunction with the Sun is shown by the large yellow disk. Planet positions are shown for 1st of the month with dates marked for the 1st of the month.

Uranus

Uranus spends 2012 mostly in Pisces but for a few months does move into Cetus before drifting back into Pisces again. It begins the year low in the evening sky and by early March it is too low in the evening twilight to be seen, reaching Solar Conjunction on March 24th. After conjunction it moves into the morning sky and should become visible by late April or early May. It reaches a Stationary point on July 13th after which it begins to retrograde. During the Summer it gradually becomes better placed to view despite the lighter nights. Uranus reaches Opposition on September 29th and is visible all night shining at magnitude 5.7. It continues retrograding until it reaches another Stationary point on December 13th after which it returns to normal (prograde) motion and remains observable in the evening sky. Uranus can be spotted with the naked eye from a very dark location and a good clear night sky without any light pollution.

Neptune

Neptune lies in Aquarius but becomes quickly lost in the evening twilight during the latter half of January with Solar Conjunction occurring on February 19th. It crawls out of the morning twilight during April but will not be easy at this time. It reaches a Stationary point on June 5th and begins retrograde motion. Neptune is at Opposition on August 24th so is visible all night and is magnitude +7.8. Retrograde motion ends when it reaches its Stationary point on November 11th when once again prograde motion is resumed and it remains visible in the evening sky until the end of the year.

Note that for both charts the actual position of the Sun against the background stars at conjunction is shown but that the solar disk is not shown to scale with the chart.