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: 2024-04-25 04:42:49 (GMT), MST=13h58m.

ObjectAlt / Az †RA / DecTypeLinksMagDist (ly)Notes
M63 81° / 285°13:15.8 / +42:02SpiralSEDS, Img8.637.0 Mabout 5' from a star, can see it's flattened
M51 (Whirlpool galaxy)81° / 324°13:29.9 / +47:12SpiralSEDS, Img8.437.0 Mfaint, two galaxies may be visible
M3 77° / 197°13:42.2 / +28:23GCSEDS, Img6.233,900
M94 77° / 278°12:50.9 / +41:07SpiralSEDS, Img8.214.5 Mgood, compact and easy to see, but not much structure
Mizar 74° / 341°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 70° / 299°12:19.0 / +47:18 SpiralSEDS, Img8.425.0 M
M64 (Blackeye galaxy)67° / 219°12:56.7 / +21:41SpiralSEDS, Img8.519.0 Mflattened, fairly faint
M40 66° / 327°12:22.4 / +58:05DoubleSEDS, Img8.4510
M53 65° / 207°13:12.9 / +18:10GCSEDS, Img7.658,000
M97 (Owl nebula)59° / 312°11:14.8 / +55:01NebulaSEDS, Img9.92,600
M13 58° / 083°16:41.7 / +36:28GCSEDS, Img5.825,100good, granularity visible
M87 55° / 220°12:30.8 / +12:24Ell.SEDS, Img8.660.0 Mthe picture shows the jet
M86 55° / 223°12:26.2 / +12:57Lent.SEDS, Img8.960.0 Msee M84
M84 55° / 223°12:25.1 / +12:53Lent.SEDS, Img9.160.0 MM84 and M86 visible in same field with fiddling
M92 53° / 068°17:17.1 / +43:08GCSEDS, Img6.426,700
M49 52° / 217°12:29.8 / +08:00Ell.SEDS, Img8.460.0 ME5 (with imagination), not very good
M5 47° / 149°15:18.6 / +02:05GCSEDS, Img5.624,500good, granularity visible
M81 (Bode's galaxy)47° / 332°09:55.6 / +69:04SpiralSEDS, Img6.912.0 Mit's fun to watch as the telescope moves between M81 and M82
M82 47° / 333°09:55.8 / +69:41Irr.SEDS, Img8.412.0 Minteresting morphology, looks about 3-4 times longer than it is thick
epsilonLyrae 36° / 065°18:44.3 / 39:40Double telescope code: star 334
M104 (Sombrero galaxy)34° / 203°12:40.0 / -11:37GalaxySEDS, Img850.0 M
M57 (Ring nebula)32° / 071°18:53.6 / +33:02NebulaSEDS, Img8.82,300
Moon (phase: 0.538)27° / 163°15:03.1 / -20:17satellite -2.5/-12.9384telescope code: star 903
Albireo 22° / 071°19:30.7 / +27:58DoubleSEDS, Img3.0(r)/5.1(b)380telescope code: star 223, separation: 34
M44 (Beehive cluster)20° / 279°08:40.1 / +19:59 OCSEDS, Img3.7577
M4 15° / 146°16:23.6 / -26:32GCSEDS, Img5.67,200
M27 (Dumbbell nebula)14° / 072°19:59.6 / +22:43NebulaSEDS, Img7.41,250
M16 9° / 117°18:18.6 / -13:47OC
M11 8° / 105°18:51.1 / -06:17OC
(Eskimo nebula) 8° / 290°07:29.2 / +20:55 NebulaSEDS, Img10
NGC 869 (Double Cluster) 7° / 357°02:19.0 / +57:08OCSEDS, Img5.37,000h and Chi Persei, NGC 869 and NGC 884
M20 5° / 126°18:02.3 / -23.02Nebula
M8 3° / 126°18:03.8 / -24:23Nebula/OC
M22 0° / 120°18:36.4 / -23.54GC
M31 (Andromeda Galaxy)-6° / 014°00:42.7 / +41:16GalaxySEDS, Img3.42.9 M
M15 -8° / 065°21:30.0 / +12:10GCSEDS, Img6.233,600
M1 (Crab nebula)-9° / 310°05:34.5 / +22:01NebulaSEDS, Img8.46,300
M33 (Triangulum Galaxy)-18° / 005°01:33.9 / +30:39GalaxySEDS, Img5.73.0 M
M45 (Pleiades)-20° / 333°03:47.0 / +24:07OCSEDS, Img1.6440
(Hyades)-23° / 320°04:27.0 / +16:00OCSEDS, Img0.5150near Aldebaran and NGC 1647. Nearest open cluster.
Jupiter -28° / 337°03:22.3 / 17:43planet -1.6/-2.95.2 AUtelescope code: star 905
Uranus -28° / 338°03:18.9 / 18:01planet 5.9/5.319 AUtelescope code: star 907
M42 (Orion nebula)-30° / 290°05:35.4 / -05:27 NebulaSEDS, Img41,600
Saturn -39° / 059°23:11.6 / -7:04planet 1.5/-0.59.5 AUtelescope code: star 906
Venus -40° / 008°01:33.6 / 08:19planet -4.6/-3.80.7 AUtelescope code: star 902
Mars -41° / 047°23:46.6 / -2:50planet 1.8/-2.91.5 AUtelescope code: star 904
Neptune -42° / 043°23:57.4 / -1:37planet 8.0/7.830 AUtelescope code: star 908
Mercury -42° / 020°01:00.8 / 05:08planet 5.7/-2.40.4 AUtelescope code: star 901