† 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.
Object | Alt / Az † | RA / Dec | Type | Links | Mag | Dist (ly) | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
M63 | 81° / 285° | 13:15.8 / +42:02 | Spiral | SEDS, Img | 8.6 | 37.0 M | about 5' from a star, can see it's flattened |
M51 (Whirlpool galaxy) | 81° / 324° | 13:29.9 / +47:12 | Spiral | SEDS, Img | 8.4 | 37.0 M | faint, two galaxies may be visible |
M3 | 77° / 197° | 13:42.2 / +28:23 | GC | SEDS, Img | 6.2 | 33,900 | |
M94 | 77° / 278° | 12:50.9 / +41:07 | Spiral | SEDS, Img | 8.2 | 14.5 M | good, compact and easy to see, but not much structure |
Mizar | 74° / 341° | 13:23.9 / +54:56 | Double | SEDS, Img | 2.2 | 78 | telescope code: star 137, first known double star: 14 arcsec separation, 500 AU (12') from Alcor (4th mag) |
M106 | 70° / 299° | 12:19.0 / +47:18 | Spiral | SEDS, Img | 8.4 | 25.0 M | |
M64 (Blackeye galaxy) | 67° / 219° | 12:56.7 / +21:41 | Spiral | SEDS, Img | 8.5 | 19.0 M | flattened, fairly faint |
M40 | 66° / 327° | 12:22.4 / +58:05 | Double | SEDS, Img | 8.4 | 510 | |
M53 | 65° / 207° | 13:12.9 / +18:10 | GC | SEDS, Img | 7.6 | 58,000 | |
M97 (Owl nebula) | 59° / 312° | 11:14.8 / +55:01 | Nebula | SEDS, Img | 9.9 | 2,600 | |
M13 | 58° / 083° | 16:41.7 / +36:28 | GC | SEDS, Img | 5.8 | 25,100 | good, granularity visible |
M87 | 55° / 220° | 12:30.8 / +12:24 | Ell. | SEDS, Img | 8.6 | 60.0 M | the picture shows the jet |
M86 | 55° / 223° | 12:26.2 / +12:57 | Lent. | SEDS, Img | 8.9 | 60.0 M | see M84 |
M84 | 55° / 223° | 12:25.1 / +12:53 | Lent. | SEDS, Img | 9.1 | 60.0 M | M84 and M86 visible in same field with fiddling |
M92 | 53° / 068° | 17:17.1 / +43:08 | GC | SEDS, Img | 6.4 | 26,700 | |
M49 | 52° / 217° | 12:29.8 / +08:00 | Ell. | SEDS, Img | 8.4 | 60.0 M | E5 (with imagination), not very good |
M5 | 47° / 149° | 15:18.6 / +02:05 | GC | SEDS, Img | 5.6 | 24,500 | good, granularity visible |
M81 (Bode's galaxy) | 47° / 332° | 09:55.6 / +69:04 | Spiral | SEDS, Img | 6.9 | 12.0 M | it's fun to watch as the telescope moves between M81 and M82 |
M82 | 47° / 333° | 09:55.8 / +69:41 | Irr. | SEDS, Img | 8.4 | 12.0 M | interesting morphology, looks about 3-4 times longer than it is thick |
epsilonLyrae | 36° / 065° | 18:44.3 / 39:40 | Double | telescope code: star 334 | |||
M104 (Sombrero galaxy) | 34° / 203° | 12:40.0 / -11:37 | Galaxy | SEDS, Img | 8 | 50.0 M | |
M57 (Ring nebula) | 32° / 071° | 18:53.6 / +33:02 | Nebula | SEDS, Img | 8.8 | 2,300 | |
Moon (phase: 0.538) | 27° / 163° | 15:03.1 / -20:17 | satellite | -2.5/-12.9 | 384 | telescope code: star 903 | |
Albireo | 22° / 071° | 19:30.7 / +27:58 | Double | SEDS, Img | 3.0(r)/5.1(b) | 380 | telescope code: star 223, separation: 34 |
M44 (Beehive cluster) | 20° / 279° | 08:40.1 / +19:59 | OC | SEDS, Img | 3.7 | 577 | |
M4 | 15° / 146° | 16:23.6 / -26:32 | GC | SEDS, Img | 5.6 | 7,200 | |
M27 (Dumbbell nebula) | 14° / 072° | 19:59.6 / +22:43 | Nebula | SEDS, Img | 7.4 | 1,250 | |
M16 | 9° / 117° | 18:18.6 / -13:47 | OC | ||||
M11 | 8° / 105° | 18:51.1 / -06:17 | OC | ||||
(Eskimo nebula) | 8° / 290° | 07:29.2 / +20:55 | Nebula | SEDS, Img | 10 | ||
NGC 869 (Double Cluster) | 7° / 357° | 02:19.0 / +57:08 | OC | SEDS, Img | 5.3 | 7,000 | h and Chi Persei, NGC 869 and NGC 884 |
M20 | 5° / 126° | 18:02.3 / -23.02 | Nebula | ||||
M8 | 3° / 126° | 18:03.8 / -24:23 | Nebula/OC | ||||
M22 | 0° / 120° | 18:36.4 / -23.54 | GC | ||||
M31 (Andromeda Galaxy) | -6° / 014° | 00:42.7 / +41:16 | Galaxy | SEDS, Img | 3.4 | 2.9 M | |
M15 | -8° / 065° | 21:30.0 / +12:10 | GC | SEDS, Img | 6.2 | 33,600 | |
M1 (Crab nebula) | -9° / 310° | 05:34.5 / +22:01 | Nebula | SEDS, Img | 8.4 | 6,300 | |
M33 (Triangulum Galaxy) | -18° / 005° | 01:33.9 / +30:39 | Galaxy | SEDS, Img | 5.7 | 3.0 M | |
M45 (Pleiades) | -20° / 333° | 03:47.0 / +24:07 | OC | SEDS, Img | 1.6 | 440 | |
(Hyades) | -23° / 320° | 04:27.0 / +16:00 | OC | SEDS, Img | 0.5 | 150 | near Aldebaran and NGC 1647. Nearest open cluster. |
Jupiter | -28° / 337° | 03:22.3 / 17:43 | planet | -1.6/-2.9 | 5.2 AU | telescope code: star 905 | |
Uranus | -28° / 338° | 03:18.9 / 18:01 | planet | 5.9/5.3 | 19 AU | telescope code: star 907 | |
M42 (Orion nebula) | -30° / 290° | 05:35.4 / -05:27 | Nebula | SEDS, Img | 4 | 1,600 | |
Saturn | -39° / 059° | 23:11.6 / -7:04 | planet | 1.5/-0.5 | 9.5 AU | telescope code: star 906 | |
Venus | -40° / 008° | 01:33.6 / 08:19 | planet | -4.6/-3.8 | 0.7 AU | telescope code: star 902 | |
Mars | -41° / 047° | 23:46.6 / -2:50 | planet | 1.8/-2.9 | 1.5 AU | telescope code: star 904 | |
Neptune | -42° / 043° | 23:57.4 / -1:37 | planet | 8.0/7.8 | 30 AU | telescope code: star 908 | |
Mercury | -42° / 020° | 01:00.8 / 05:08 | planet | 5.7/-2.4 | 0.4 AU | telescope code: star 901 |