The ice giant Neptune will likely be at opposition on Tuesday (Sept. 19), meaning it should be in a straight line with our planet and the sun, with Earth in in the middle.
The eighth and most distant planet from the sun, Neptune, can even make its closest approach to Earth, generally known as perigee, at around the identical time. This implies the distant planet will likely be at its largest and brightest within the sky tonight, making it a superb time to locate and observe Neptune.
From Latest York City, Neptune will rise within the east at around 6:58 p.m. EDT (2258 GMT) and can turn into visible a couple of hours later, in keeping with Within the Sky. The ice giant will likely be at its highest point within the sky, 46 degrees above the horizon (nearly five widths of your fist at arm’s length), at 12:51 a.m. EDT (0451 GMT) on Wednesday, Sept. 20. Neptune will likely be within the Pisces constellation.
Neptune will then disappear at around 4:41 a.m. EDT (0841 GMT) when it drops below 21 degrees over the horizon to the southwest. The planet will set at around 6:41 a.m. EDT (1041 GMT).
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Although the distant ice giant is at perigee, its closest point to Earth, Earth and Neptune will still be anything but close in real terms. During this closest approach on Tuesday, Neptune will still be around 2.7 billion miles (4.3 billion kilometers) from our planet.
For comparison, Earth and Mars are separated by a median of 140 million miles (225 million kilometers). Which means the common distance between Mars and Earth would fit between Earth and Neptune almost 20 times over.
And while the Earth is around 93 million miles (150 million kilometers) from the sun, Neptune is around 30 times further away at around 2.8 billion miles (4.5 billion kilometers) from our solar system’s star. The gap between Neptune and the sun implies that the ice giant takes 165 Earth years to orbit the sun.
The gap between Earth and Neptune implies that the blue marble-like world is not visible within the sky over Earth with the naked eye. That is despite the proven fact that the planet has a width of around 31,000 miles (50,000 kilometers), around 4 times the scale of Earth, and is the fourth largest planet within the solar system.
The ice giant on the outskirts of the solar system is visible with the help of a telescope or good binoculars in dark skies and in favorable weather conditions. Want to examine out Neptune within the night sky? See our guides on the best telescopes, the best binoculars, and the best telescopes for seeing planets.
And in case you’re trying to snap photos of Neptune or the night sky basically, try our guide on photograph the planets, in addition to our best cameras for astrophotography and best lenses for astrophotography.