Uranus starts 2009 in Aquarius but moves into Pisces on March 28. Later, during its retrograde motion, the planet moves back into Aquarius on October 14 to re-enter Pisces in January 2010. Neptune remains in Capricornus throughout 2009.

Neptune is in conjunction with the Sun on February 12 when it passes just south of the Sun. Uranus is in conjunction a month later on March 13. It will pass about half a degree to the south of the Sun.

The planets are too close to the Sun to observe for about a month either side of their conjunction date. After conjunction they are morning objects, rising before the Sun. At first they will be only briefly visible to the east in the morning sky before the onset of twilight. They will rise about 4 minutes earlier each day, 2 hours a month, and so become visible for longer during the night until opposition, when they are on the opposite side of the Earth to the Sun.

Opposition dates are approximately 6 months after conjunction, August 18 in the case of Neptune while Uranus is at opposition on September 17. At opposition the planets rise close to the time of sunset and set close to the time of sunrise, so are in the sky all night. They are due north (or south from the northern hemisphere) at close to local midnight.

Following opposition they will be rising before sunset and setting before sunrise and so become well placed for viewing in the evening sky until the end of the year.

Neptune reaches a stationary point on May 29 and again on November 5. The corresponding dates for Uranus are July 2 and December 2. Between these dates the planet will apparently be moving in a retrograde sense through the stars, that is towards the west rather than towards the east. The apparent backwards motion is due to the faster moving Earth overtaking the outer planets, which actually maintain a steady movement in an easterly direction around the Sun.

The magnitudes of the two planets only vary by about 0.2 during the year. At its brightest, for a month either side of opposition, Uranus has a magnitude of 5.7, making it faintly visible to the unaided eye from a dark site. Neptune's magnitude is about 7.8, so is readily visible in binoculars.

A number of close approaches of other planets occur during 2009. Uranus and Venus are in closest on January 22 and 23 when they are 1.3° apart low in the evening sky towards the end of twilight. Mars will be half a degree from Uranus on April 16 in the morning sky.

Mercury passes Neptune on the mornings of March 5 and 6 with the two just ober 1.5° apart, Mars is close to Neptune 3 days later with a half degree separation. Perhaps the most interesting conjunction of planets is that of Jupiter and Neptune. Jupiter gets to be within 5° of Neptune in mid April. They remain less than this distance apart until the beginning of September and, after it briefly increases up to about 7°, drops back to below 5° in mid November. During this time Jupiter passes Neptune three times, first on May 28, then on July 10 and finally on December 21. Each time the closest distance is about half a degree. This dance is due to the more rapid retrograde movement of Jupiter.

Conjunctions with the Moon occur at approximately 28 day intervals throughout the year. The minimum separation of Uranus and the Moon range from about 4° to 5°, while those of Neptune range from 1.6° to 3.2°. In all cases the planets are south of the Moon, that is above the Moon as seen from the southern hemisphere.