{"id":672618,"date":"2026-11-02T11:46:14","date_gmt":"2026-11-02T11:46:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/672618\/"},"modified":"2026-11-02T11:46:14","modified_gmt":"2026-11-02T11:46:14","slug":"right-now-is-your-best-chance-to-see-uranus-heres-how-to-see-the-icy-planet-at-its-best-in-november-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/672618\/","title":{"rendered":"Right now is your best chance to see Uranus. Here&#8217;s how to see the icy planet at its best in November 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Uranus reaches opposition on 25 November 2026. At 00:03 UT that day, the planet is due south and highest in the sky, but also only 6\u00b0 from a bright full Moon (it too being at opposition).<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For this reason, we\u2019ve picked 22 November as the best time to see Uranus in 2026, as the planet will be easier to find with the Moon a little farther away.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To be honest, the appearance of Uranus won\u2019t alter much over the weeks before and after opposition, as the planet is so far away that the advantages are slight.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The biggest benefit occurs because the Sun, Earth and Uranus are in a line, meaning the distance between us and the planet is minimised.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Even so, opposition brings Uranus to its brightest for the current period of observation, shining at mag. +5.6 and with an apparent diameter of 3.8 arcseconds.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/full-moon-and-planets.jpg\" alt=\"Artist's impression of a woman observing the full Moon and planet. Credit: m-gucci \/ Getty Images\" class=\"wp-image-195062\"\/>Credit: m-gucci \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"877\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/uranus-2026.jpg\" alt=\"Chart showing the location of Uranus at opposition in November 2026. Credit: Pete Lawrence\" class=\"wp-image-195431\"\/>Chart showing the location of Uranus at opposition in November 2026. Credit: Pete Lawrence<\/p>\n<p>What you&#8217;ll see<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Through a small telescope, Uranus shows a tiny green-hued disc. However, large apertures are required to get anything more out of this disc and even then it can be a struggle.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The most commonly observed features are subtle shading differences between different sections of the planet.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A 200\u2013250mm scope may pick up the largest and outermost of Uranus\u2019s brightest moons, Titania and Oberon, but a 300mm or larger is required for moons Ariel and Umbriel, while tricky Miranda calls for at least a 400mm scope.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Planetary imagers can get away with smaller apertures by using a large image scale and deliberately over-exposing the planet.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"630\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/uranus-and-moons-social.jpg\" alt=\"Photo of Uranus and its moons. Credit: Pete Lawrence\" class=\"wp-image-163970\"\/>Photo of Uranus and its moons. Credit: Pete Lawrence<br \/>\nUranus, November 2026 \u2013 at a glance<\/p>\n<p>Best time to see: 22 November, 00:15 UT\u00a0<br \/>\nAltitude: 58\u00b0<br \/>\nLocation: Taurus<br \/>\nDirection: South<br \/>\nFeatures: Colour, subtle banding, brighter moons<br \/>\nRecommended equipment: 200mm or larger<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Uranus reaches opposition on 25 November 2026. At 00:03 UT that day, the planet is due south and&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":672619,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[61,60,82,247],"class_list":["post-672618","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-space","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-science","tag-space"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/672618","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=672618"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/672618\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/672619"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=672618"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=672618"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=672618"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}