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: 2026-03-15 07:49:15 (GMT), MST=14h22m.

ObjectAlt / Az †RA / DecTypeLinksMagDist (ly)Notes
M51 (Whirlpool galaxy)78° / 310°13:29.9 / +47:12SpiralSEDS, Img8.437.0 Mfaint, two galaxies may be visible
M63 77° / 282°13:15.8 / +42:02SpiralSEDS, Img8.637.0 Mabout 5' from a star, can see it's flattened
M3 75° / 217°13:42.2 / +28:23GCSEDS, Img6.233,900
M94 72° / 279°12:50.9 / +41:07SpiralSEDS, Img8.214.5 Mgood, compact and easy to see, but not much structure
Mizar 72° / 331°13:23.9 / +54:56DoubleSEDS, Img2.278telescope code: star 137, first known double star: 14 arcsec separation, 500 AU (12') from Alcor (4th mag)
M106 66° / 297°12:19.0 / +47:18 SpiralSEDS, Img8.425.0 M
M40 63° / 322°12:22.4 / +58:05DoubleSEDS, Img8.4510
M64 (Blackeye galaxy)63° / 230°12:56.7 / +21:41SpiralSEDS, Img8.519.0 Mflattened, fairly faint
M53 63° / 218°13:12.9 / +18:10GCSEDS, Img7.658,000
M13 62° / 086°16:41.7 / +36:28GCSEDS, Img5.825,100good, granularity visible
M92 57° / 070°17:17.1 / +43:08GCSEDS, Img6.426,700
M97 (Owl nebula)56° / 311°11:14.8 / +55:01NebulaSEDS, Img9.92,600
M87 52° / 229°12:30.8 / +12:24Ell.SEDS, Img8.660.0 Mthe picture shows the jet
M86 52° / 231°12:26.2 / +12:57Lent.SEDS, Img8.960.0 Msee M84
M84 52° / 231°12:25.1 / +12:53Lent.SEDS, Img9.160.0 MM84 and M86 visible in same field with fiddling
M5 49° / 157°15:18.6 / +02:05GCSEDS, Img5.624,500good, granularity visible
M49 49° / 225°12:29.8 / +08:00Ell.SEDS, Img8.460.0 ME5 (with imagination), not very good
M81 (Bode's galaxy)45° / 332°09:55.6 / +69:04SpiralSEDS, Img6.912.0 Mit's fun to watch as the telescope moves between M81 and M82
M82 45° / 332°09:55.8 / +69:41Irr.SEDS, Img8.412.0 Minteresting morphology, looks about 3-4 times longer than it is thick
epsilonLyrae 41° / 068°18:44.3 / 39:40Double telescope code: star 334
M57 (Ring nebula)36° / 074°18:53.6 / +33:02NebulaSEDS, Img8.82,300
M104 (Sombrero galaxy)32° / 210°12:40.0 / -11:37GalaxySEDS, Img850.0 M
Albireo 27° / 075°19:30.7 / +27:58DoubleSEDS, Img3.0(r)/5.1(b)380telescope code: star 223, separation: 34
M27 (Dumbbell nebula)18° / 075°19:59.6 / +22:43NebulaSEDS, Img7.41,250
M4 17° / 151°16:23.6 / -26:32GCSEDS, Img5.67,200
M44 (Beehive cluster)16° / 282°08:40.1 / +19:59 OCSEDS, Img3.7577
M16 13° / 121°18:18.6 / -13:47OC
M11 12° / 109°18:51.1 / -06:17OC
M20 8° / 130°18:02.3 / -23.02Nebula
NGC 869 (Double Cluster) 7° / 000°02:19.0 / +57:08OCSEDS, Img5.37,000h and Chi Persei, NGC 869 and NGC 884
M8 7° / 130°18:03.8 / -24:23Nebula/OC
(Eskimo nebula) 3° / 294°07:29.2 / +20:55 NebulaSEDS, Img10
M22 3° / 124°18:36.4 / -23.54GC
Jupiter 1° / 299°07:05.8 / 22:56planet -1.6/-2.95.2 AUtelescope code: star 905
M15 -4° / 069°21:30.0 / +12:10GCSEDS, Img6.233,600
M31 (Andromeda Galaxy)-5° / 018°00:42.7 / +41:16GalaxySEDS, Img3.42.9 M
M1 (Crab nebula)-13° / 314°05:34.5 / +22:01NebulaSEDS, Img8.46,300
Moon (phase: 0.873)-17° / 102°20:47.3 / -20:39satellite -2.5/-12.9384telescope code: star 903
M33 (Triangulum Galaxy)-18° / 010°01:33.9 / +30:39GalaxySEDS, Img5.73.0 M
M45 (Pleiades)-22° / 339°03:47.0 / +24:07OCSEDS, Img1.6440
(Hyades)-26° / 326°04:27.0 / +16:00OCSEDS, Img0.5150near Aldebaran and NGC 1647. Nearest open cluster.
Uranus -27° / 338°03:43.6 / 19:34planet 5.9/5.319 AUtelescope code: star 907
Mercury -29° / 070°22:42.8 / -5:38planet 5.7/-2.40.4 AUtelescope code: star 901
Mars -32° / 071°22:47.9 / -8:48planet 1.8/-2.91.5 AUtelescope code: star 904
M42 (Orion nebula)-34° / 295°05:35.4 / -05:27 NebulaSEDS, Img41,600
Neptune -38° / 045°00:07.8 / 00:34planet 8.0/7.830 AUtelescope code: star 908
Saturn -39° / 043°00:16.1 / 00:34planet 1.5/-0.59.5 AUtelescope code: star 906
Venus -40° / 033°00:42.2 / 03:24planet -4.6/-3.80.7 AUtelescope code: star 902