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 during the day, be sure to select an appropriate observing time!

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: 2012-02-10 11:28:11 (local), MST=20h50m.

ObjectAlt / Az †RA / DecTypeLinksMagDist (ly)Notes
Albireo 69° / 238°19:30.7 / +27:58DoubleSEDS, Img3.0(r)/5.1(b)380separation: 34
M27 (Dumbbell nebula)69° / 214°19:59.6 / +22:43NebulaSEDS, Img7.41,250
M57 (Ring nebula)65° / 261°18:53.6 / +33:02NebulaSEDS, Img8.82,300
M15 60° / 159°21:30.0 / +12:10GCSEDS, Img6.233,600
M92 50° / 292°17:17.1 / +43:08GCSEDS, Img6.426,700
M31 (Andromeda Galaxy)46° / 068°00:42.7 / +41:16GalaxySEDS, Img3.42.9 M
M13 42° / 286°16:41.7 / +36:28GCSEDS, Img5.825,100good, granularity visible
NGC 0869 (Double Cluster)36° / 042°02:19.0 / +57:08OCSEDS, Img5.37,000h and Chi Persei, NGC 869 and NGC 884
Neptune 34° / 156°22:10.1 / -11:53planet 8.0/7.830 AU
M33 (Triangulum Galaxy)32° / 075°01:33.9 / +30:39GalaxySEDS, Img5.73.0 M
Mercury 32° / 163°21:47.4 / -15:25planet 5.7/-2.40.4 AU
Venus 29° / 117°00:11.1 / 00:48planet -4.6/-3.80.7 AU
Uranus 29° / 118°00:09.2 / 00:14planet 5.9/5.319 AU
Mizar 21° / 324°13:23.9 / +54:56DoubleSEDS, Img2.278first known double star: 14 arcsec separation, 500 AU (12') from Alcor (4th mag)
M82 20° / 353°09:55.8 / +69:41Irr.SEDS, Img8.412.0 Minteresting morphology, looks about 3-4 times longer than it is thick
M81 (Bode's galaxy)20° / 353°09:55.6 / +69:04SpiralSEDS, Img6.912.0 Mit's fun to watch as the telescope moves between M81 and M82
M40 17° / 333°12:22.4 / +58:05DoubleSEDS, Img8.4510
M51 (Whirlpool galaxy)17° / 318°13:29.9 / +47:12SpiralSEDS, Img8.437.0 Mfaint, two galaxies may be visible
Jupiter 15° / 087°02:08.1 / 11:50planet -1.6/-2.95.2 AU
M63 11° / 315°13:15.8 / +42:02SpiralSEDS, Img8.637.0 Mabout 5' from a star, can see it's flattened
M97 (Owl nebula)10° / 339°11:14.8 / +55:01NebulaSEDS, Img9.92,600
M106 9° / 327°12:19.0 / +47:18 SpiralSEDS, Img8.425.0 M
M94 8° / 318°12:50.9 / +41:07SpiralSEDS, Img8.214.5 Mgood, compact and easy to see, but not much structure
M5 6° / 266°15:18.6 / +02:05GCSEDS, Img5.624,500good, granularity visible
M3 6° / 302°13:42.2 / +28:23GCSEDS, Img6.233,900
M45 (Pleiades) 5° / 062°03:47.0 / +24:07OCSEDS, Img1.6440
M4 -1° / 235°16:23.6 / -26:32GCSEDS, Img5.67,200
M53 -5° / 299°13:12.9 / +18:10GCSEDS, Img7.658,000
M64 (Blackeye galaxy)-5° / 304°12:56.7 / +21:41SpiralSEDS, Img8.519.0 Mflattened, fairly faint
(Hyades)-6° / 062°04:27.0 / +16:00OCSEDS, Img0.5150near Aldebaran and NGC 1647. Nearest open cluster.
M1 (Crab nebula)-12° / 045°05:34.5 / +22:01NebulaSEDS, Img8.46,300
Saturn -16° / 272°13:53.4 / -8:51planet 1.5/-0.59.5 AU
M87 -16° / 303°12:30.8 / +12:24Ell.SEDS, Img8.660.0 Mthe picture shows the jet
M86 -16° / 304°12:26.2 / +12:57Lent.SEDS, Img8.960.0 Msee M84
M84 -17° / 304°12:25.1 / +12:53Lent.SEDS, Img9.160.0 MM84 and M86 visible in same field with fiddling
M49 -20° / 300°12:29.8 / +08:00Ell.SEDS, Img8.460.0 ME5 (with imagination), not very good
(Eskimo nebula)-25° / 021°07:29.2 / +20:55 NebulaSEDS, Img100
Mars -29° / 312°11:33.6 / 07:15planet 1.8/-2.91.5 AU
M44 (Beehive cluster)-29° / 002°08:40.1 / +19:59 OCSEDS, Img3.7577
M104 (Sombrero galaxy)-32° / 282°12:40.0 / -11:37GalaxySEDS, Img850.0 M
M42 (Orion nebula)-34° / 064°05:35.4 / -05:27 NebulaSEDS, Img41,600
Moon (phase: 0.602)-36° / 301°11:44.8 / -3:37satellite -2.5/-12.9384