THE PLANETS

Our celestial neighbourhood in August

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Uranus Best time to see: 31 August, 04:00 BST (03:00 UT) Altitude: 48° Location: Taurus Direction: Southeast Features: Colour, subtle atmospheric banding, moons Recommended equipment: 200mm or larger

It's surprising how rapidly darkness expands in August, which is perfect timing for viewing the planet Uranus, as by the end of the month it's able to reach a decent altitude above the southeast horizon before the onset of dawn.

On 1 August, morning twilight truncates the observing window at around 02:20 BST (01:20 UT), this distant world only achieving a peak altitude of around 16° on this date. For many years, Uranus has been in stellar limbo on the Aries–Taurus border. While not particularly difficult to track down, it has lacked bright guiding stars over this period – something that may have put off casual observation.

Having drifted further east at a painfully slow rate, the planet is now well and truly within Taurus and much more conveniently located immediately to the south of the Pleiades open cluster. On 31 August, the planet's eastern drift will have moved it into a position 4.5° south-southeast of the centre of the Pleiades.