Here is the scene as the planet climbs into view over the eastern horizon.
See the end note about enlarging illustrations.
For the American location and time chosen, this is about 12 hours after the instant of opposition. You can see that the distant planet, moving westward in the apparent retrograde path it has to take around the time of opposition, has just passed its closest to the point we mark as the anti-Sun, 180° from the Sun that has just gone down over the western horizon.
As shown on page 123 of the Astronomical Calendar for 2025 (and also for 2026), and explained in pages 31-32 of Uranus, Neptune, Pluto, Uranus’s four major satellites revolve in orbits that we now see almost as circles. Their paths are shown in white from the beginning to the end of the day of opposition by Universal Time. This year is a better telescopic opportunity, being near new Moon, than next, which will coincide with full moonlight,
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ILLUSTRATIONS in these posts are made with precision but have to be inserted in another format. You may be able to enlarge them on your monitor.
One way: right-click, and choose ”View image” or ”Open image in new tab”, then enlarge. Or choose ”Copy image”, then put it on your desktop, then open it. On an iPad or phone, use the finger gesture that enlarges (spreading with two fingers, or tapping and dragging with three fingers). Other methods have been suggested, such as dragging the image to the desktop and opening it in other ways.
The view from four days ago shows Uranus as the brightest point of light in its immediate area; it should be observable without optical aid if you have good vision and dark skies:
http://www.starvergnuegen.com/astropix/2025/11_november/2025_11_17_uranus.html
Eric, again, impressive combination of astrophotography and mpping skill. Without the markings you have added, it would be difficult to perceive structures and identities in this vast star-field.
Thank you, Guy! Your 50+ years of charts and diagrams are a major inspiration for me to create annotated images showing the planets in their endless motions around the sky. As a kid growing up in the 1970’s, I also loved the monthly charts in Sky & Telescope by George Lovi. I recall once reading that you corresponded with him about your own monthly charts. My mental pictures of the constellations are still the stick figures that he drew in those charts.