The crescent Moon lies in Taurus near the planet Uranus. You can easily spot the distant ice giant with binoculars or a small scope today.
The Moon lies to the left of Uranus in the early-morning sky, with the lovely Pleiades star cluster above them. Credit: Stellarium/USGS/Celestia/Clementine
As the crescent Moon rises early this morning, it lies to the right of Uranus in the eastern sky. Although Uranus is faint — magnitude 5.8 — and best seen with binoculars or a small telescope, the Moon is fortunately far enough away and dim enough — only 6 percent illuminated — that its light won’t interfere in finding the distant ice giant this morning.
The easiest way to find Uranus is to first center on the Pleiades open cluster in northwestern Taurus with binoculars or a small telescope. This stunning group of young stars is also known as the Seven Sisters. From here, shift your field of view about 4.7° south to find a pair of 6th-magnitude stars, separated by about 20’. These are 13 and 14 Tauri. 14 Tau is the slightly dimmer star to the east; from this star, it’s a short jaunt just 50’ farther east to land on Uranus, standing in line with the pair of suns.
The planet’s disk spans 3” — enough that it may appear circular to sharp-eyed observers, rather than more like a pinpoint, as stars do. It may also appear blush-gray, a reflection of the visual color of its upper atmosphere.
Uranus’ visibility will continue to improve through the end of June and into July. And by the last day of June, bright Venus will have moved close by, offering a much brighter signpost to find it.
Sunrise: 5:32 A.M.
Sunset: 8:33 P.M.
Moonrise: 3:21 A.M.
Moonset: 7:16 P.M.
Moon Phase: Waning crescent (4%)
*Times for sunrise, sunset, moonrise, and moonset are given in local time from 40° N 90° W. The Moon’s illumination is given at 12 P.M. local time from the same location.
For a look ahead at more upcoming sky events, check out our full Sky This Week column.
