Welcome to your guide to the Solar System
- Check the upcoming close approaches between Earth and NEO (Near Earth Object) Asteroids.
- Find information, position data and sky charts for Planets, Asteroids, Comets, Interplanetary Probes.
- Use our Observing Guide to plan observations of the Solar System objects visible tonight from your location.
- Create accurate and interactive maps of the sky visible from any location up to the year 2035 using our Online Planetarium.
- Discover our 3D Solar System Simulator
Quick links
- Popular Objects
- Current Solar System Configuration
- The Sun and The Moon Today
- The Planets Today
- Current Planets Apparent Size Comparison
- Brightest Comets Visible Today
- Brightest Asteroids Visible Today
- Active Meteor Showers Visible Today
Popular Objects This Week
Current Solar System Configuration
This interactive 3D model shows the today's configuration of the major bodies of the Solar System along their orbits. It is an experimental feature and it requires a WebGL enabled browser. For more advanced features, check out our 3D Solar System Simulator. Please provide us feedback!
View larger 3D Solar System Simulator
The Sun and the Moon Today
Here is how the Sun and the Moon look like today.
| R.A. | Decl. | Apparent Diameter | MagnitudeMag | ConstellationConst | Map | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Sun | 00h 34m 32s | +03° 43’ 31” | 1,921.4” | -26.74 |
|
Pisces |
|
|
Moon | 04h 35m 19s | +20° 04’ 23” | 1,807.0” | -8.76 |
|
Taurus |
|
= current altitude ≥ 30°
= current altitude < 30°
= below the horizonLocation: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]
The Planets Today
Key information about the Planets today. Click each row to
go to each planet's detail page. Click the blue 'full screen' icon ()
to view an accurate deep sky chart showing the planet's current position.
| Planet | R.A. | Decl. | Apparent Diameter | MagnitudeMag | ConstellationConst | Map | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
Venus | 03h 28m 13s | +22° 25’ 12” | 24.9” | -4.53 |
|
Aries |
|
|
|
Jupiter | 19h 42m 58s | -21° 23’ 23” | 36.0” | -2.13 |
|
Sagittarius |
|
|
|
Mercury | 22h 58m 04s | -08° 43’ 35” | 6.8” | 0.05 |
|
Aquarius |
|
|
|
Mars | 20h 05m 46s | -21° 14’ 47” | 6.3” | 0.81 |
|
Sagittarius |
|
|
|
Saturn | 20h 09m 52s | -20° 08’ 53” | 15.5” | 1.43 | Capricornus |
|
|
|
|
Uranus | 02h 10m 38s | +12° 41’ 09” | 3.4” | 5.88 | Aries |
|
|
|
|
Neptune | 23h 20m 51s | -05° 19’ 20” | 2.2” | 7.96 | Aquarius |
|
= current altitude ≥ 30°
= current altitude < 30°
= below the horizonLocation: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]
Current Planets Apparent Size Comparison
6.8”
24.9”
6.3”
36.0”
15.5”
3.4”
2.2”
Images credits: NASA-APL - NASA.
Bright Comets Today
These are the brightest comets currently visible in the sky. The Observed Magnitude and Coma Diameter values are derived from the Comet Observers Database by averaging the values reported in recent observations (more recent than 4 days), when available. The Estimated Magnitude comes from the JPL Horizons ephemeris service and might be inaccurate given the highly dynamic and unpredictable behavior of comets. When available please refer to the Observed Magnitude value and consider the Estimated Magnitude as a directional indication.
Click on each line to go to the comet's detail page, or click the blue 'full screen' icon
()
to view an accurate deep sky chart showing the comet's current position in real time.
Also check the full list of tracked comets (176)
| Comet | R.A. | Decl. | Magnitude (Observed)Mag Obs | Magnitude (Estimated)Mag Pred | Coma DiameterComa Diam | ConstellationConst | Map | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
C/2019 Y4 (ATLAS) | 08h 09m 46s | +68° 33’ 43” | 8.2 | 14.12 |
|
10.7' | Ursa Major UMa |
|
|
|
C/2019 Y1 (ATLAS) | 00h 14m 35s | +44° 27’ 58” | 8.4 | 11.93 |
|
3.0' | Andromeda And |
|
|
|
C/2017 T2 (PANSTARRS) | 02h 55m 25s | +68° 10’ 36” | 8.6 | 11.86 |
|
4.7' | Cassiopeia Cas |
|
|
|
210P/Christensen | 01h 32m 05s | +06° 41’ 57” | - | 13.34 |
|
- | Pisces Psc |
|
|
|
C/2018 N2 (ASASSN) | 00h 25m 01s | +53° 09’ 44” | 14.1 | 14.99 |
|
0.5' | Cassiopeia Cas |
|
|
|
88P/Howell | 13h 30m 26s | -04° 04’ 30” | - | 14.40 |
|
- | Virgo Vir |
|
|
|
C/2019 N1 (ATLAS) | 18h 31m 36s | +73° 28’ 12” | 15.5 | 15.24 |
|
0.3' | Draco Dra |
|
|
|
29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 1 | 01h 22m 07s | +17° 03’ 31” | - | 16.08 | - | Pisces Psc |
|
|
|
|
C/2019 F1 (ATLAS-Africano) | 14h 52m 52s | -18° 16’ 34” | - | 16.18 |
|
- | Libra Lib |
|
|
|
C/2018 F4 (PANSTARRS) | 02h 02m 30s | -49° 00’ 22” | - | 16.29 | - | Eridanus Eri |
|
|
|
|
C/2020 A2 (Iwamoto) | 05h 23m 02s | +51° 51’ 21” | - | 16.39 |
|
- | Auriga Aur |
|
|
|
C/2019 K1 (ATLAS) | 03h 17m 27s | -38° 18’ 53” | - | 16.50 |
|
- | Fornax For |
|
|
|
C/2019 K7 (Smith) | 20h 53m 26s | -03° 10’ 22” | - | 16.54 |
|
- | Aquarius Aqr |
|
|
|
C/2017 K2 (PANSTARRS) | 18h 19m 07s | +49° 40’ 07” | 16.6 | 16.74 |
|
0.4' | Draco Dra |
|
|
|
P/2010 H2 (Vales) | 22h 58m 42s | -19° 32’ 03” | - | 16.81 | - | Aquarius Aqr |
|
|
|
|
C/2018 A6 (Gibbs) | 23h 41m 22s | -36° 42’ 12” | - | 16.95 |
|
- | Sculptor Scl |
|
|
|
C/2017 M4 (ATLAS) | 10h 53m 53s | -75° 51’ 58” | - | 17.13 |
|
- | Chamaleon Cha |
|
|
|
C/2017 B3 (LINEAR) | 00h 01m 59s | -10° 15’ 35” | - | 17.30 | - | Cetus Cet |
|
|
|
|
Encke's Comet | 00h 57m 25s | +12° 10’ 46” | - | 17.38 |
|
- | Pisces Psc |
|
|
|
P/2019 Y2 (Fuls) | 13h 23m 32s | +00° 05’ 07” | - | 17.42 | - | Virgo Vir |
|
= current altitude ≥ 30°
= current altitude < 30°
= below the horizonLocation: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]
We acknowledge with thanks the comet observations from the COBS Comet Observation Database contributed by observers worldwide and used in this table to report recent comet observations.
Bright Asteroids Today
These are the top 10 brightest asteroids visible tonight. Click on each line to go to the asteroids's detail page, or click the blue 'full screen' icon ()
to view an accurate deep sky chart showing the asteroids's current position in real time. Also check the full list of tracked asteroids and dwarf planets (78)
| Asteroid | R.A. | Decl. | MagnitudeMag | ConstellationConst | Map | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
4 Vesta | 04h 05m 17s | +18° 26’ 21” | 8.21 | Taurus |
|
|
|
|
1 Ceres | 21h 45m 11s | -20° 24’ 36” | 9.34 | Capricornus |
|
|
|
|
3 Juno | 13h 03m 55s | +01° 23’ 11” | 9.56 | Virgo |
|
|
|
|
15 Eunomia | 01h 21m 52s | +17° 18’ 46” | 9.82 |
|
Pisces |
|
|
|
6 Hebe | 13h 27m 32s | +10° 36’ 07” | 10.02 |
|
Virgo |
|
|
|
2 Pallas | 19h 21m 01s | +11° 57’ 00” | 10.34 | Aquila |
|
|
|
|
18 Melpomene | 01h 13m 45s | +02° 11’ 33” | 10.48 | Cetus |
|
|
|
|
5 Astraea | 07h 59m 19s | +21° 01’ 16” | 10.65 |
|
Gemini |
|
|
|
16 Psyche | 00h 44m 11s | +03° 07’ 50” | 10.80 |
|
Pisces |
|
|
|
324 Dembowska | 15h 40m 29s | -21° 52’ 49” | 10.89 |
|
Libra |
|
= current altitude ≥ 30°
= current altitude < 30°
= below the horizonLocation: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]
Active Meteor Showers Today
This is a list of the currently active meteor showers. The celestial coordinates refer to the meteor shower radiant position, i.e. the point in the sky where the meteors appear to come from. The ZHR value refers to the Zenithal Hourly Rate, i.e. the average number of meteors an individual observer could see in an hour, assuming perfectly dark sky conditions. This number is an estimate, the actual number an observer could see depends on the actual intensity of the shower (which can be highly variable) and on the actual sky conditions. Clicking on the blue square icon will bring you to a sky map showing the radiant position. The data used here is derived from Wikipedia.
| Name | Peak | Radiant R.A. | Radiant Decl. | ZHR | Rating | Parent Object | Map |
|---|
= current altitude ≥ 30°
= current altitude < 30°
= below the horizonLocation: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]