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: 2026-06-16 02:53:17 (GMT), MST=15h32m.

ObjectAlt / Az †RA / DecTypeLinksMagDist (ly)Notes
M13 75° / 100°16:41.7 / +36:28GCSEDS, Img5.825,100good, granularity visible
M92 70° / 073°17:17.1 / +43:08GCSEDS, Img6.426,700
M51 (Whirlpool galaxy)67° / 297°13:29.9 / +47:12SpiralSEDS, Img8.437.0 Mfaint, two galaxies may be visible
M3 64° / 250°13:42.2 / +28:23GCSEDS, Img6.233,900
M63 64° / 284°13:15.8 / +42:02SpiralSEDS, Img8.637.0 Mabout 5' from a star, can see it's flattened
Mizar 64° / 315°13:23.9 / +54:56DoubleSEDS, Img2.278telescope code: star 137, first known double star: 14 arcsec separation, 500 AU (12') from Alcor (4th mag)
M94 59° / 284°12:50.9 / +41:07SpiralSEDS, Img8.214.5 Mgood, compact and easy to see, but not much structure
M40 55° / 316°12:22.4 / +58:05DoubleSEDS, Img8.4510
M106 55° / 297°12:19.0 / +47:18 SpiralSEDS, Img8.425.0 M
epsilonLyrae 53° / 075°18:44.3 / 39:40Double telescope code: star 334
M53 52° / 243°13:12.9 / +18:10GCSEDS, Img7.658,000
M64 (Blackeye galaxy)52° / 252°12:56.7 / +21:41SpiralSEDS, Img8.519.0 Mflattened, fairly faint
M5 51° / 185°15:18.6 / +02:05GCSEDS, Img5.624,500good, granularity visible
M57 (Ring nebula)49° / 083°18:53.6 / +33:02NebulaSEDS, Img8.82,300
M97 (Owl nebula)46° / 311°11:14.8 / +55:01NebulaSEDS, Img9.92,600
M87 41° / 247°12:30.8 / +12:24Ell.SEDS, Img8.660.0 Mthe picture shows the jet
M86 41° / 249°12:26.2 / +12:57Lent.SEDS, Img8.960.0 Msee M84
M84 40° / 249°12:25.1 / +12:53Lent.SEDS, Img9.160.0 MM84 and M86 visible in same field with fiddling
Albireo 40° / 084°19:30.7 / +27:58DoubleSEDS, Img3.0(r)/5.1(b)380telescope code: star 223, separation: 34
M82 39° / 333°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)39° / 332°09:55.6 / +69:04SpiralSEDS, Img6.912.0 Mit's fun to watch as the telescope moves between M81 and M82
M49 38° / 244°12:29.8 / +08:00Ell.SEDS, Img8.460.0 ME5 (with imagination), not very good
M27 (Dumbbell nebula)31° / 086°19:59.6 / +22:43NebulaSEDS, Img7.41,250
M11 24° / 123°18:51.1 / -06:17OC
M104 (Sombrero galaxy)24° / 227°12:40.0 / -11:37GalaxySEDS, Img850.0 M
M16 23° / 135°18:18.6 / -13:47OC
M4 22° / 167°16:23.6 / -26:32GCSEDS, Img5.67,200
M20 17° / 143°18:02.3 / -23.02Nebula
M8 16° / 144°18:03.8 / -24:23Nebula/OC
M22 13° / 137°18:36.4 / -23.54GC
NGC 869 (Double Cluster) 8° / 009°02:19.0 / +57:08OCSEDS, Img5.37,000h and Chi Persei, NGC 869 and NGC 884
M15 8° / 081°21:30.0 / +12:10GCSEDS, Img6.233,600
M44 (Beehive cluster) 3° / 293°08:40.1 / +19:59 OCSEDS, Img3.7577
Venus 1° / 297°08:23.6 / 21:26planet -4.6/-3.80.7 AUtelescope code: star 902
M31 (Andromeda Galaxy) 0° / 030°00:42.7 / +41:16GalaxySEDS, Img3.42.9 M
Jupiter -3° / 301°07:56.7 / 21:09planet -1.6/-2.95.2 AUtelescope code: star 905
Mercury -6° / 308°07:25.0 / 22:58planet 5.7/-2.40.4 AUtelescope code: star 901
(Eskimo nebula)-7° / 305°07:29.2 / +20:55 NebulaSEDS, Img10
Moon (phase: 0.040)-9° / 318°06:41.4 / 27:08satellite -2.5/-12.9384telescope code: star 903
M33 (Triangulum Galaxy)-13° / 025°01:33.9 / +30:39GalaxySEDS, Img5.73.0 M
M1 (Crab nebula)-21° / 329°05:34.5 / +22:01NebulaSEDS, Img8.46,300
M45 (Pleiades)-25° / 356°03:47.0 / +24:07OCSEDS, Img1.6440
Uranus -28° / 351°04:03.6 / 20:35planet 5.9/5.319 AUtelescope code: star 907
Neptune -29° / 060°00:17.9 / 00:27planet 8.0/7.830 AUtelescope code: star 908
Mars -31° / 005°03:14.2 / 17:30planet 1.8/-2.91.5 AUtelescope code: star 904
(Hyades)-32° / 344°04:27.0 / +16:00OCSEDS, Img0.5150near Aldebaran and NGC 1647. Nearest open cluster.
Saturn -33° / 050°00:52.9 / 03:08planet 1.5/-0.59.5 AUtelescope code: star 906
M42 (Orion nebula)-45° / 313°05:35.4 / -05:27 NebulaSEDS, Img41,600