Recent articles

Today's highlights

• Check out the Mars Perseverance Rover Photostream!
• The Sun is in the constellation of Ophiucus. The Moon is in the constellation of Sagittarius and it is in Waxing Crescent phase.
• Comet Leonard (C/2021 A1) is in the constellation of Bootes and its latest observed magnitude is 7.1. It should be visible with the help of a small binocular.
• Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko is in the constellation of Cancer and its latest observed magnitude is 8.8. It should be visible with the help of a binocular with a 60-70mm aperture or a small telescope.
• Comet C/2019 L3 (ATLAS) is in the constellation of Lynx and its latest observed magnitude is 9.7. It should be visible with the help of a binocular with a 80mm aperture or a small telescope.
• The next close approach with a Near Earth Object (NEO) will happen with Asteroid (NEO) 2021 XN2 on Dec 7 2021 at 14:54 UTC (20 hours 25 minutes), at an approach distance of 896,333 kilometers, or 2.33 lunar distances, and a relative speed of 7.42 kilometers per second.
• Dwarf Planet 1 Ceres is at opposition, current elongation 167.4°

Your guide to the Solar System and the night sky

• 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 December 31 2099 using our Online Planetarium.
• Discover our 3D Solar System Simulator and visualize orbits and relative positions of Solar System objects at any point in time up to December 31 2099.
• Discover facts about thousands of stars and deep sky objects for each Constellation of the night sky.

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

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!

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	16h 52m 57s	-22° 32’ 39”	1,947.5”	-26.77		Ophiucus
	Moon	19h 22m 20s	-26° 46’ 19”	1,978.9”	-7.31		Sagittarius

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	19h 41m 48s	-23° 44’ 33”	42.6”	-4.91		Sagittarius
	Jupiter	21h 54m 00s	-13° 51’ 47”	36.9”	-2.24		Capricornus
	Mercury	17h 10m 33s	-24° 23’ 42”	4.7”	-1.01		Ophiucus
	Saturn	20h 47m 12s	-18° 45’ 16”	15.3”	0.74		Capricornus
	Mars	15h 31m 02s	-18° 54’ 17”	3.8”	1.54		Libra
	Uranus	02h 35m 50s	+14° 48’ 38”	3.7”	5.70		Aries
	Neptune	23h 25m 26s	-04° 58’ 23”	2.3”	7.75		Aquarius

Current Planets Apparent Size Comparison

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 (207)

	Comet	R.A.	Decl.	Magnitude (Observed)Mag Obs	Magnitude (Estimated)Mag Pred		Coma DiameterComa Diam	ConstellationConst	Map
	C/2021 A1 (Leonard)	14h 34m 21s	+22° 51’ 24”	7.1	9.00		11.0'	Bootes Boo
	67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko	08h 53m 39s	+27° 11’ 44”	8.8	12.93		6.4'	Cancer Cnc
	C/2019 L3 (ATLAS)	07h 36m 14s	+36° 48’ 23”	9.7	12.44		4.9'	Lynx Lyn
	19P/Borrelly	23h 34m 17s	-34° 43’ 28”	10.6	12.51		3.3'	Sculptor Scl
	4P/Faye	06h 53m 26s	+07° 25’ 42”	11.4	13.28		2.3'	Monoceros Mon
	C/2019 T4 (ATLAS)	11h 45m 52s	-28° 21’ 13”	12.1	14.63		2.0'	Hydra Hya
	C/2017 K2 (PANSTARRS)	17h 37m 31s	+15° 38’ 56”	12.3	14.09		2.5'	Hercules Her
	C/2020 T2 (Palomar)	18h 44m 55s	-32° 51’ 00”	12.7	16.73		2.3'	Sagittarius Sgr
	108P/Ciffreo	07h 24m 20s	+36° 33’ 38”	14.6	16.33		2.1'	Auriga Aur
	C/2020 Y2 (ATLAS)	12h 48m 44s	-44° 24’ 48”	-	15.00		-	Centaurus Cen
	C/2021 E3 (ZTF)	18h 56m 14s	-02° 27’ 49”	15.3	15.48		0.7'	Aquila Aql
	C/2020 V2 (ZTF)	13h 00m 53s	+37° 16’ 02”	15.4	16.06		1.1'	Canes Venatici CVn
	C/2020 F5 (MASTER)	22h 27m 54s	-19° 17’ 37”	15.5	16.04		0.7'	Aquarius Aqr
	132P/Helin-Roman-Alu 2	00h 57m 39s	-01° 22’ 07”	-	15.53		-	Cetus Cet
	29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 1	04h 34m 09s	+31° 50’ 31”	-	15.56		-	Perseus Per
	C/2019 F1 (ATLAS-Africano)	22h 34m 39s	-61° 43’ 49”	-	15.64		-	Tucana Tuc
	110P/Hartley 3	08h 41m 24s	+17° 43’ 05”	-	15.99		-	Cancer Cnc
	7P/Pons-Winnecke	23h 47m 48s	-28° 13’ 26”	16.1	19.63		2.3'	Sculptor Scl
	C/2020 J1 (SONEAR)	14h 23m 22s	+01° 06’ 55”	-	16.24		-	Virgo Vir
	117P/Helin-Roman-Alu 1	16h 02m 21s	-20° 42’ 50”	-	16.25		-	Scorpius Sco

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 (79)

	Asteroid	R.A.	Decl.	MagnitudeMag		ConstellationConst	Map
	1 Ceres	04h 05m 10s	+16° 54’ 13”	7.23		Taurus
	4 Vesta	16h 37m 45s	-19° 14’ 31”	7.35		Ophiucus
	7 Iris	08h 08m 24s	+16° 51’ 20”	8.49		Cancer
	2 Pallas	22h 58m 14s	-12° 22’ 22”	9.90		Aquarius
	20 Massalia	09h 32m 04s	+13° 33’ 47”	9.95		Leo
	6 Hebe	21h 17m 09s	-20° 59’ 54”	10.14		Capricornus
	324 Dembowska	21h 59m 31s	-18° 17’ 47”	11.08		Capricornus
	15 Eunomia	12h 58m 04s	-16° 43’ 43”	11.12		Virgo
	3 Juno	18h 30m 35s	-14° 05’ 42”	11.13		Scutum
	10 Hygiea	13h 20m 27s	-11° 58’ 31”	11.31		Virgo

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
	Geminids	14 Dec	07h 30m	+33°	120	medium	3200 Phaethon
	Puppid-Velids	multiple	08h 11m	-45°	10	medium
	Northern Taurids	12 Nov	03h 53m	+22°	5	bright	Comet Encke
	Dec. Leonis Minorids	20 Dec	10h 41m	+30°	5	medium
	Sigma Hydrids	11 Dec	08h 30m	+02°	3	medium
	November Orionids	28 Nov	06h 05m	+16°	3	medium
	Monocerotids	8 Dec	06h 42m	+08°	2	medium	C/1917 F1 (Mellish)
	Phoenicids	2 Dec	01h 11m	-53°	variable	medium	289P/Blanpain