The Sky Today on Friday, September 25: Neptune at opposition

The solar system’s most distant planet is now at opposition and looking its best. Search it out after dark using optical aid. | Published: September 25, 2026 Looking for a sky event this week? Check out our full Sky This Week column. September 24: Blue Neptune, yellow star Neptune now reaches opposition this evening at 10 P.M. EDT, placing the planet at its best for viewing. However, with the nearly Full Moon (more than 99% lit and appearing Full to the naked eye) nearby, catching the ice giant may be a bit challenging — but certainly doable. You’ll find Neptune in southern Pisces, rising around sunset and setting around sunrise. It’s highest in the middle of the night, in the hours around midnight. By midnight, Neptune is nearly 50° high in the south, to the left of the bright Moon and to the lower right of naked-eye Saturn. Neptune is not visible without optical aid, so the easiest way to find it will be to use binoculars or a telescope (ideally the latter, thanks to the bright moonlight) to look about 7° to the left (east) of the Moon. Alternatively, you can use Saturn as your guidepost, and find Neptune 9° west-southwest of the ringed planet. Even at its best, Neptune’s disk is tiny — 2” across — and will look more like a “flat” or circular bluish-gray star than a full-fledged planet. The ice giant is now 2.68 billion miles (4.32 billion kilometers) from Earth, which is why it looks so small. In reality, Neptune is the fourth-largest planet in the solar system, behind Jupiter, Saturn, and Uranus. It is also the farthest major planet from the Sun; beyond it is the icy Kuiper Belt, to which Pluto belongs. Neptune will be at its best for a while, so if you’re having trouble spotting it with the bright Moon nearby, just wait a couple of days for our satellite to move out of the area and try again.Sunrise: 6:50 A.M.Sunset: 6:52 P.M.Moonrise: 6:17 P.M.Moonset: 5:39 A.M.Moon Phase: Full*Times for sunrise, sunset, moonrise, and moonset are given in local time from 40° N 90° W. The Moon’s illumination is given at 10 P.M. local time from the same location. Alison Klesman is senior editor of Astronomy magazine. She holds a Ph.D. in astronomy and has studied a variety of topics, from minor planets to supermassive black holes.