--- title: Uranus: How and Where to See the Planet Tonight description: Thursday night, sky-gazers could be able to see Uranus without the help of a telescope. This is how to see it canonical: https://time.com/4989585/how-to-view-uranus-without-a-telescope/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-10-19T17:26:40.000Z article:modified_time: 2023-12-13T02:25:49.000Z article:section: Science og:title: How to View Uranus Without a Telescope Tonight og:description: "It's visible all night long and its blue-green color is unmistakeable." og:url: https://time.com/4989585/how-to-view-uranus-without-a-telescope/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltac94f8d41f147f08/6988e2a54ee262055130f773/uranus_nasa.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1720 og:image:height: 968 og:image:alt: Uranus og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: How to View Uranus Without a Telescope Tonight twitter:description: "It's visible all night long and its blue-green color is unmistakeable." twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltac94f8d41f147f08/6988e2a54ee262055130f773/uranus_nasa.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # How to View Uranus Without a Telescope as It Nears Earth Tonight > Sponsored content. 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Future Proof is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-futureproof-2026q3/newsletters?i=11996b22-0717-48ba-a842-c9dea0bedbd3&cr=time-nl-futureproof-2026q3-v1) ## Video: The Moon Once Had an Atmosphere That Faded Away [Watch (HLS stream): The Moon Once Had an Atmosphere That Faded Away](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/iEIHrSjw.m3u8) (1:31)  _Published 2017-10-09. The moon likely had an ancient, temporary atmosphere — similar to the pocket of gases that surround Earth — around 3 to 4 billion years ago, according to a new study._ by [Lisa Marie Segarra](https://time.com/author/lisa-marie-segarra/) ## Lisa Marie Segarra Updated: Dec 13, 2023 2:25 AM UTCPublished: Oct 19, 2017 5:26 PM UTC  This is an image of the planet Uranus taken by the spacecraft Voyager 2 in 1986. This is an image of the planet Uranus taken by the spacecraft Voyager 2 in 1986. NASA by [Lisa Marie Segarra](https://time.com/author/lisa-marie-segarra/) ## Lisa Marie Segarra Updated: Dec 13, 2023 2:25 AM UTCPublished: Oct 19, 2017 5:26 PM UTC Sky-gazers will have a good chance of seeing the icy planet Uranus from just 1.7 billion miles away Thursday night — without the help of a telescope. Uranus is making a close approach to our planet, NASA says, and it could be visible to the naked eye. A waning moon, and the resulting darker sky, should help. “It’s visible all night long and its blue-green color is unmistakeable. It may be bright enough to see with your naked eye — and for sure in binoculars,”[ according to NASA.](https://www.nasa.gov/mediacast/jpl/whats-up-october-2017) Uranus is 4 times wider than Earth. For perspective, NASA says, if Earth was the size of a nickel, Uranus would be about as big as a softball. Despite its relative size to Earth,[_National Geographic_](https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/10/skywatching-guide-october-uranus-meteors-moon-space-science/) notes, the planet would still be just barely visible without any viewing equipment even under ideal conditions. But binoculars, rather than a full telescope, should suffice, NASA says. The best way to see Uranus, according to _National Geographic,_ is by looking toward the southeast, where it will be close to the [Pisces constellation.](http://time.com/4183652/david-bowie-honored-with-his-own-lightning-bolt-shaped-constellation/) “Scan the constellation carefully, and look for a tiny blue-green disk to pop out against the background of fainter stars,” the magazine advises. Since Uranus will remain close by, those who do have a telescope will be able to see it throughout the month of October. **Correction:** The original version of this story misstated the position of Uranus in relation to Earth and the sun. Uranus will not come between Earth and the sun. ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] [ MUSIC ] [ MUSIC ] [ MUSIC ] [ MUSIC ] [ MUSIC ] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4989585/how-to-view-uranus-without-a-telescope/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4989585/how-to-view-uranus-without-a-telescope/"},"headline":"How to View Uranus Without a Telescope as It Nears Earth Tonight","datePublished":"2017-10-19T17:26:40.000Z","dateModified":"2023-12-13T02:25:49.000Z","description":"\"It's visible all night long and its blue-green color is unmistakeable.\"","url":"https://time.com/4989585/how-to-view-uranus-without-a-telescope/","keywords":["Space","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltac94f8d41f147f08/6988e2a54ee262055130f773/uranus_nasa.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Lisa Marie Segarra","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/lisa-marie-segarra/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltac94f8d41f147f08/6988e2a54ee262055130f773/uranus_nasa.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Uranus","caption":"This is an image of the planet Uranus taken by the spacecraft Voyager 2 in 1986.","creditText":"NASA","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/space/","name":"Space"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4989585/how-to-view-uranus-without-a-telescope/","name":"How to View Uranus Without a Telescope as It Nears Earth Tonight"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"The Moon Once Had an Atmosphere That Faded Away","description":"The moon likely had an ancient, temporary atmosphere — similar to the pocket of gases that surround Earth — around 3 to 4 billion years ago, according to a new study.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/iEIHrSjw/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2017-10-09T19:19:39.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/iEIHrSjw.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4989585/how-to-view-uranus-without-a-telescope/","duration":"PT1M31S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4989585/how-to-view-uranus-without-a-telescope/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```