Observing List

† Alt/Az Note: Values shown in green are observable (above 20° altitude), values in yellow are above the horizon but below 20°, and values shown in red are below the horizon. When planning observations, be sure to select an appropriate observing time! NOTE THAT ALL TIMES BELOW ARE IN GMT.

For planets (highlighted in magenta), distances are heliocentric in Astronomical Units (AU, 1 AU = 150 million km), and magnitudes are given as a range. These values are not recomputed for the current date.

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Alt/Az values correspond to: 2024-05-19 01:33:15 (GMT), MST=12h23m.

ObjectAlt / Az †RA / DecTypeLinksMagDist (ly)Notes
M94 84° / 079°12:50.9 / +41:07SpiralSEDS, Img8.214.5 Mgood, compact and easy to see, but not much structure
M106 83° / 353°12:19.0 / +47:18 SpiralSEDS, Img8.425.0 M
M63 80° / 076°13:15.8 / +42:02SpiralSEDS, Img8.637.0 Mabout 5' from a star, can see it's flattened
M51 (Whirlpool galaxy)76° / 054°13:29.9 / +47:12SpiralSEDS, Img8.437.0 Mfaint, two galaxies may be visible
Mizar 72° / 029°13:23.9 / +54:56DoubleSEDS, Img2.278telescope code: star 137, first known double star: 14 arcsec separation, 500 AU (12') from Alcor (4th mag)
M40 72° / 359°12:22.4 / +58:05DoubleSEDS, Img8.4510
M97 (Owl nebula)71° / 327°11:14.8 / +55:01NebulaSEDS, Img9.92,600
M64 (Blackeye galaxy)70° / 156°12:56.7 / +21:41SpiralSEDS, Img8.519.0 Mflattened, fairly faint
M3 69° / 120°13:42.2 / +28:23GCSEDS, Img6.233,900
M53 65° / 150°13:12.9 / +18:10GCSEDS, Img7.658,000
M86 62° / 178°12:26.2 / +12:57Lent.SEDS, Img8.960.0 Msee M84
M84 62° / 179°12:25.1 / +12:53Lent.SEDS, Img9.160.0 MM84 and M86 visible in same field with fiddling
M87 61° / 176°12:30.8 / +12:24Ell.SEDS, Img8.660.0 Mthe picture shows the jet
M49 57° / 177°12:29.8 / +08:00Ell.SEDS, Img8.460.0 ME5 (with imagination), not very good
M81 (Bode's galaxy)55° / 337°09:55.6 / +69:04SpiralSEDS, Img6.912.0 Mit's fun to watch as the telescope moves between M81 and M82
M82 54° / 338°09:55.8 / +69:41Irr.SEDS, Img8.412.0 Minteresting morphology, looks about 3-4 times longer than it is thick
Moon (phase: 0.359)47° / 178°12:28.5 / -2:20satellite -2.5/-12.9384telescope code: star 903
M13 40° / 072°16:41.7 / +36:28GCSEDS, Img5.825,100good, granularity visible
M44 (Beehive cluster)38° / 264°08:40.1 / +19:59 OCSEDS, Img3.7577
M104 (Sombrero galaxy)37° / 174°12:40.0 / -11:37GalaxySEDS, Img850.0 M
M92 36° / 061°17:17.1 / +43:08GCSEDS, Img6.426,700
M5 34° / 122°15:18.6 / +02:05GCSEDS, Img5.624,500good, granularity visible
(Eskimo nebula)25° / 276°07:29.2 / +20:55 NebulaSEDS, Img10
epsilonLyrae 21° / 055°18:44.3 / 39:40Double telescope code: star 334
M57 (Ring nebula)15° / 059°18:53.6 / +33:02NebulaSEDS, Img8.82,300
NGC 869 (Double Cluster)10° / 344°02:19.0 / +57:08OCSEDS, Img5.37,000h and Chi Persei, NGC 869 and NGC 884
Albireo 6° / 058°19:30.7 / +27:58DoubleSEDS, Img3.0(r)/5.1(b)380telescope code: star 223, separation: 34
M1 (Crab nebula) 5° / 294°05:34.5 / +22:01NebulaSEDS, Img8.46,300
M4 2° / 129°16:23.6 / -26:32GCSEDS, Img5.67,200
M27 (Dumbbell nebula)-2° / 057°19:59.6 / +22:43NebulaSEDS, Img7.41,250
M16 -7° / 101°18:18.6 / -13:47OC
M31 (Andromeda Galaxy)-8° / 356°00:42.7 / +41:16GalaxySEDS, Img3.42.9 M
M11 -9° / 090°18:51.1 / -06:17OC
M45 (Pleiades)-10° / 314°03:47.0 / +24:07OCSEDS, Img1.6440
(Hyades)-10° / 301°04:27.0 / +16:00OCSEDS, Img0.5150near Aldebaran and NGC 1647. Nearest open cluster.
M20 -10° / 111°18:02.3 / -23.02Nebula
M8 -12° / 111°18:03.8 / -24:23Nebula/OC
M42 (Orion nebula)-12° / 273°05:35.4 / -05:27 NebulaSEDS, Img41,600
Jupiter -14° / 311°03:45.2 / 19:05planet -1.6/-2.95.2 AUtelescope code: star 905
M33 (Triangulum Galaxy)-17° / 344°01:33.9 / +30:39GalaxySEDS, Img5.73.0 M
M22 -17° / 106°18:36.4 / -23.54GC
Venus -17° / 314°03:27.6 / 18:07planet -4.6/-3.80.7 AUtelescope code: star 902
Uranus -17° / 315°03:24.4 / 18:22planet 5.9/5.319 AUtelescope code: star 907
M15 -23° / 047°21:30.0 / +12:10GCSEDS, Img6.233,600
Mercury -33° / 327°02:12.6 / 10:10planet 5.7/-2.40.4 AUtelescope code: star 901
Mars -44° / 349°00:53.8 / 04:25planet 1.8/-2.91.5 AUtelescope code: star 904
Neptune -50° / 009°23:59.8 / -1:22planet 8.0/7.830 AUtelescope code: star 908
Saturn -52° / 027°23:18.8 / -6:23planet 1.5/-0.59.5 AUtelescope code: star 906