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- NEW! Check out all the known upcoming close approaches between Earth and NEO (Near Earth Object) Asteroids.
- Find key 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 to data you can find in this page:
- 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 | |||
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Sun | 00h 16m 47s | +01° 49’ 08” | 1,924.1” | -26.75 | Pisces |
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Moon | 16h 22m 38s | -17° 48’ 57” | 1,864.5” | -11.04 |
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Libra |
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= 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 | ||
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Venus | 22h 03m 29s | -12° 34’ 30” | 13.5” | -3.96 |
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Aquarius |
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Jupiter | 17h 32m 38s | -22° 39’ 20” | 38.2” | -2.20 | Ophiucus |
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Mars | 03h 34m 17s | +20° 07’ 50” | 4.7” | 1.40 |
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Taurus |
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Saturn | 19h 23m 07s | -21° 38’ 37” | 15.6” | 1.43 | Sagittarius |
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Mercury | 23h 07m 18s | -04° 15’ 53” | 10.4” | 1.78 |
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Aquarius |
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Uranus | 01h 54m 59s | +11° 15’ 05” | 3.4” | 5.89 | Aries |
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Neptune | 23h 12m 12s | -06° 10’ 35” | 2.2” | 7.96 | Aquarius |
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= current altitude ≥ 30°
= current altitude < 30°
= below the horizonLocation: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]
Current Planets Apparent Size Comparison
10.4”
13.5”
4.7”
38.2”
15.6”
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 ephemerides service and might be inaccurate given the highly dynamic and unpredictable behvior 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 (147)
| Comet | R.A. | Decl. | Magnitude (Observed)Mag Obs | Magnitude (Estimated)Mag Pred | Coma DiameterComa Diam | ConstellationConst | Map | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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C/2018 Y1 (Iwamoto) | 04h 28m 42s | +33° 28’ 33” | 9.7 | 16.04 |
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4.9' | Perseus Per |
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46P/Wirtanen | 09h 54m 09s | +37° 33’ 29” | 10.8 | 18.59 |
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4.0' | Leo Minor LMi |
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C/2017 T2 (PANSTARRS) | 03h 11m 42s | +04° 47’ 10” | 12.9 | 15.66 | 1.9' | Cetus Cet |
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78P/Gehrels 2 | 01h 46m 24s | +10° 13’ 42” | - | 13.06 | - | Pisces Psc |
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38P/Stephan-Oterma | 08h 47m 43s | +42° 36’ 21” | - | 14.47 |
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- | Lynx Lyn |
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C/2018 N2 (ASASSN) | 01h 30m 20s | -12° 32’ 39” | - | 14.49 |
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- | Cetus Cet |
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C/2016 M1 (PANSTARRS) | 04h 20m 57s | -51° 23’ 01” | - | 14.59 |
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- | Dorado Dor |
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C/2017 M4 (ATLAS) | 17h 24m 39s | -26° 43’ 23” | - | 14.71 |
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- | Ophiucus Oph |
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C/2018 A6 (Gibbs) | 08h 24m 30s | -59° 43’ 50” | - | 15.00 | - | Carina Car |
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C/2016 N6 (PANSTARRS) | 05h 33m 48s | -20° 26’ 39” | - | 15.27 |
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- | Lepus Lep |
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29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 1 | 23h 56m 16s | +06° 10’ 07” | - | 15.38 | - | Pisces Psc |
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60P/Tsuchinshan 2 | 11h 24m 53s | -04° 19’ 50” | - | 15.54 |
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- | Leo Leo |
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C/2017 B3 (LINEAR) | 23h 05m 52s | -51° 35’ 08” | - | 15.59 | - | Grus Gru |
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P/2010 H2 (Vales) | 20h 24m 49s | -28° 39’ 38” | - | 15.73 | - | Sagittarius Sgr |
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C/2016 R2 (PANSTARRS) | 15h 57m 43s | +47° 26’ 32” | - | 15.78 | - | Hercules Her |
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C/2018 L2 (ATLAS) | 23h 33m 36s | +42° 28’ 16” | - | 15.80 |
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- | Andromeda And |
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C/2018 A3 (ATLAS) | 03h 41m 08s | +56° 53’ 37” | - | 15.99 |
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- | Camelopardalis Cam |
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C/2018 R3 (Lemmon) | 22h 55m 12s | +28° 14’ 45” | - | 16.00 |
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- | Pegasus Peg |
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C/2015 O1 (PANSTARRS) | 09h 14m 09s | +42° 26’ 33” | - | 16.22 |
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- | Lynx Lyn |
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C/2018 W2 (Africano) | 02h 32m 14s | +83° 02’ 42” | - | 16.33 |
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- | Cepheus Cep |
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= 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 dward planets (68)
| Asteroid | R.A. | Decl. | MagnitudeMag | ConstellationConst | Map | ||
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2 Pallas | 14h 05m 34s | +13° 23’ 37” | 7.88 |
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Bootes |
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4 Vesta | 23h 50m 53s | -06° 05’ 28” | 8.00 |
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Aquarius |
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1 Ceres | 16h 50m 50s | -16° 24’ 43” | 8.25 |
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Ophiucus |
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7 Iris | 12h 53m 02s | -14° 06’ 57” | 9.51 |
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Corvus |
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3 Juno | 05h 09m 47s | +11° 24’ 55” | 9.62 |
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Orion |
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6 Hebe | 06h 24m 07s | +18° 02’ 30” | 10.34 |
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Gemini |
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324 Dembowska | 10h 34m 50s | +18° 24’ 18” | 10.64 |
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Leo |
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8 Flora | 15h 52m 43s | -12° 18’ 45” | 10.64 |
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Libra |
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17 Thetis | 12h 14m 12s | +07° 13’ 46” | 10.69 |
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Virgo |
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15 Eunomia | 20h 30m 43s | -20° 10’ 48” | 10.71 | Capricornus |
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= 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 | |
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Gamma Normids | 14 Mar | 15h 53m | -50° | 6 | bright |
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= current altitude ≥ 30°
= current altitude < 30°
= below the horizonLocation: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]