Sky Tonight — May 31, 2026
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Current Viewing Status
Uranus passed behind the Sun (solar conjunction) in May 2026 and is currently not visible. Best viewing returns autumn 2026. At magnitude +5.7 — on the naked-eye limit from dark skies, easily seen in binoculars as a pale blue-green "star." A 3"+ telescope shows it as a small disk. Uranus reaches opposition in November 2026.
Uranus is the most unusual of the eight planets — an ice giant rolling through space on its side. Its axial tilt of 97.77° means each pole points nearly at the Sun for half its 84-year orbit, creating the most extreme seasons in the Solar System: ~42 years of polar summer followed by ~42 years of winter darkness.
In 2026, researchers at Carnegie Institution confirmed a completely new phase of matter inside Uranus: a "quasi-1D superionic" state where hydrogen protons flow like a liquid while oxygen stays locked in a crystal lattice. Published in Nature Communications, the discovery may explain why Uranus and Neptune have such unusual, asymmetric magnetic fields — tilted 59° from the rotation axis and offset from the planet's center.
Uranus is the #1 priority for the next flagship planetary science mission in NASA's 2023 Decadal Survey. A dedicated orbiter-probe mission could launch in the early 2030s and would study the ice giant's interior structure, ring system, bizarre magnetic field, and moon system for the first time since Voyager 2's brief 1986 flyby.
Distance from Sun
2.87 billion km · 19.2 AU
Diameter
50,724 km (4× Earth)
Day length
17h 14min (retrograde)
Year length
84 Earth years
Cloud-top temp
−224°C — coldest atmosphere
Moons
27 (all Shakespeare characters)
Axial tilt
97.77° — spins nearly on its side!
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97.77° Axial Tilt
Uranus rotates nearly on its side — possibly caused by an ancient giant collision with an Earth-sized body. Each pole experiences 42 years of continuous sunlight then 42 years of darkness, creating the most extreme seasons of any planet.
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Quasi-1D Superionic Matter (2026)
Confirmed April 2026 in Nature Communications — a new phase of matter where protons flow like liquid along chains of oxygen atoms locked in a crystal lattice. This intermediate state may explain Uranus's bizarrely asymmetric magnetic field.
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Ring System
13 narrow dark rings discovered in 1977 when Uranus occulted a star. Unlike Saturn's brilliant icy rings, Uranus's rings are dark and narrow — thought to be relatively young and continuously resupplied by collisions among small moonlets.
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Miranda's Cliff
Uranus's moon Miranda has Verona Rupes — cliffs estimated at 20 km high, the tallest known cliffs in the Solar System. New 2026 modeling suggests these formed when an ancient subsurface ocean froze and cracked the moon's surface.
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NASA
Voyager 2 (1986 flyby)
The only spacecraft to visit Uranus. Flew within 81,500 km on January 24, 1986. Discovered 10 new moons, 2 new rings, and the bizarre tilted magnetic field. Now in interstellar space, still transmitting.
✓ HistoricalNASA · ESA
Uranus Orbiter & Probe (2030s)
The #1 planetary science priority in the 2023 Decadal Survey. Would orbit Uranus for multiple years and drop an atmospheric probe. Funding discussions ongoing — potential launch early 2030s.
🔭 Planned
