Tootfinder

The planet #Uranus ending its journey along the 14 - 13 Tauri star pair on #Xmas day (Thursday): the view from #Bochum, Germany, in the morning and in the evening - the exact moment when the three formed a rectangular triangle again, with 13 Tau the star at the right angle, was in daytime.

The distant planet #Uranus next to the Pleiades star cluster this evening - very easy to find in binoculars (or naked eye in dark places): It's one day after opposition / closest approach to Earth now. See also https://bsky.app/profile/cosmos4u.bsky.social/post/3m6apcpkzac2s for a comparision with a picture taken five nights earlier, showing how slowly the planet is moving in the sky, and https://www.facebook.com/bob.king.5059/posts/pfbid02SCaBYyzJsMu2bXqsNiutZtPN9tn6PZ5gf2SogCegF5bSfhsN2Q86Crmvxm3XdnTPl for some more information.

One week on #Uranus has now moved well along the 14 / 13 Tauri star pair, forming a wide triangle with them this evening.

Icy or rocky? Convective or stable? New interior models of #Uranus and Neptune: https://www.aanda.org/articles/aa/full_html/2025/12/aa56911-25/aa56911-25.html -> Uranus and Neptune Might Be Rock Giants: https://www.news.uzh.ch/en/articles/media/2025/Uranus-Neptune.html - the composition of Uranus and Neptune, the two outer most planets, might be more rocky and less icy than previously thought.

The slow motion of #Uranus in just one day (24 hours ago and tonight), easily visible thanks to the current proximity to the stars 14 and 13 Tauri of similar brightness: https://www.facebook.com/planetarium.bochum/posts/pfbid0pGCePvJoCDXcnfjcPXBtmJHUNFjXYRVheG5tmuwi74w7CxdyUs48wVaaQthkfSidl - one could also see the changing shape of the triangle in binoculars!

Solving the Mystery of the Electron Radiation Belt at #Uranus - Leveraging Knowledge of Earth's Radiation Belts in a Re-Examination of Voyager 2 Observations: https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2025GL119311 -> SwRI may have solved a mystery surrounding Uranus’ radiation belts: https://www.swri.org/newsroom/press-releases/swri-may-have-solved-mystery-surrounding-uranus-radiation-belts