Here is the scene over the after-sunset horizon as Neptune climbs into view, on the evening nearest to the instant of opposition.
Neptune is close to the “anti-Sun,” or shadow of the Earth, 180° from the Sun. Unfortunately, so is the Moon (exaggerated 4 times in size), which therefore is at its full phase and brightest.
If nevertheless you can with binoculars or telescope discern the sea-green dot which is the sea god’s planet, at magnitude 7.8 well below naked-eye brightness and dimmer than any star in the picture, you are looking at an important boundary in our solar system.
Beyond this 8th major planet are the myriad small trans-Neptunian objects of the so-called Kuiper Belt, including dwarf planets Pluto and Eris and the comets that occasionally get deflected to fall near to us in elliptical orbits.
The finder chart on page 123 of Astronomical Calendar 2026 gives more help for a serious try.
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