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Today's highlights

• NEW! Check out the Mars Perseverance Rover Photostream!
• The Sun is in the constellation of Virgo. The Moon is in the constellation of Aries and it is in Waning Gibbous phase.
• Comet 8P/Tuttle latest observed magnitude is 9.1 and it is in the constellation of Hydra. It should be visible with the help of a binocular with a 60-70mm aperture or a small telescope.
• Comet C/2020 T2 (Palomar) latest observed magnitude is 10.4 and it is in the constellation of Scorpius. It should be visible with the help of a binocular with a 80mm aperture or a small telescope.
• Comet C/2019 L3 (ATLAS) latest observed magnitude is 10.9 and it is in the constellation of Auriga. It should be visible with the help of a telescope havng an aperture of 6 inches (150mm) or more.
• The next close approach with a Near Earth Object (NEO) will happen with Asteroid (NEO) 2021 RG19 on Sep 28 2021 at 22:02 UTC (3 days 5 hours 13 minutes), at an approach distance of 826,802 kilometers, or 2.15 lunar distances, and a relative speed of 15.37 kilometers per second.
• Neptune is at opposition, current elongation 168.6°
• Asteroid 2 Pallas is at opposition, current elongation 161.8°

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	12h 09m 18s	-01° 00’ 40”	1,913.6”	-26.74		Virgo
	Moon	03h 35m 48s	+17° 45’ 48”	1,774.7”	-11.19		Aries

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	14h 54m 23s	-18° 33’ 50”	18.0”	-4.18		Libra
	Jupiter	21h 42m 25s	-15° 01’ 00”	45.9”	-2.74		Capricornus
	Saturn	20h 37m 31s	-19° 22’ 11”	17.2”	0.47		Capricornus
	Mercury	13h 27m 13s	-13° 09’ 40”	8.6”	0.60		Virgo
	Mars	12h 25m 32s	-01° 57’ 14”	3.5”	1.59		Virgo
	Uranus	02h 46m 30s	+15° 37’ 17”	3.7”	5.71		Aries
	Neptune	23h 29m 23s	-04° 34’ 34”	2.3”	7.69		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 (203)

	Comet	R.A.	Decl.	Magnitude (Observed)Mag Obs	Magnitude (Estimated)Mag Pred		Coma DiameterComa Diam	ConstellationConst	Map
	8P/Tuttle	10h 17m 35s	-17° 41’ 56”	9.1	16.43		3.5'	Hydra Hya
	C/2020 T2 (Palomar)	16h 06m 02s	-22° 42’ 53”	10.4	15.10		1.4'	Scorpius Sco
	C/2019 L3 (ATLAS)	07h 25m 12s	+43° 33’ 14”	10.9	13.35		3.6'	Auriga Aur
	67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko	04h 35m 51s	+20° 04’ 01”	11.4	11.16		3.5'	Taurus Tau
	4P/Faye	05h 50m 44s	+16° 53’ 17”	11.3	13.46		3.1'	Taurus Tau
	C/2017 K2 (PANSTARRS)	16h 58m 22s	+27° 30’ 03”	12.9	14.13		1.8'	Hercules Her
	C/2021 O1 (Nishimura)	12h 21m 26s	+08° 15’ 58”	-	13.21		-	Virgo Vir
	C/2021 A1 (Leonard)	11h 13m 51s	+38° 18’ 40”	13.3	15.37		2.4'	Ursa Major UMa
	15P/Finlay	07h 57m 19s	+26° 34’ 24”	13.7	17.10		2.2'	Gemini Gem
	108P/Ciffreo	06h 02m 18s	+24° 17’ 32”	14.0	15.66		1.5'	Gemini Gem
	7P/Pons-Winnecke	23h 21m 05s	-48° 44’ 05”	14.1	17.55		1.3'	Grus Gru
	19P/Borrelly	23h 36m 57s	-58° 54’ 33”	14.6	14.27		1.1'	Tucana Tuc
	252P/LINEAR	14h 46m 13s	-09° 34’ 24”	14.5	20.39		4.0'	Libra Lib
	284P/McNaught	23h 05m 56s	-15° 41’ 29”	14.7	16.02		0.6'	Aquarius Aqr
	C/2019 F1 (ATLAS-Africano)	20h 50m 49s	-81° 12’ 08”	14.8	15.00		0.7'	Octans Oct
	C/2020 F5 (MASTER)	22h 40m 58s	-30° 23’ 31”	15.0	15.35		0.4'	Pisces Austrinus PsA
	C/2019 T4 (ATLAS)	10h 36m 37s	-23° 46’ 27”	-	15.13		-	Hydra Hya
	246P/NEAT	18h 57m 22s	-35° 03’ 20”	-	15.32		-	Sagittarius Sgr
	C/2021 K1 (ATLAS)	01h 10m 22s	-12° 29’ 36”	15.5	17.32		0.6'	Cetus Cet
	193P/LINEAR-NEAT	23h 03m 59s	+01° 01’ 18”	15.6	17.19		1.3'	Pisces Psc

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
	4 Vesta	14h 06m 27s	-08° 05’ 50”	7.68		Virgo
	1 Ceres	04h 42m 30s	+15° 53’ 54”	8.44		Taurus
	2 Pallas	22h 58m 41s	-03° 34’ 41”	8.82		Aquarius
	6 Hebe	19h 22m 16s	-21° 10’ 28”	9.55		Sagittarius
	7 Iris	06h 56m 46s	+23° 38’ 26”	9.56		Gemini
	12 Victoria	20h 16m 50s	-05° 32’ 23”	10.01		Aquila
	324 Dembowska	21h 15m 29s	-26° 33’ 58”	10.22		Capricornus
	15 Eunomia	11h 27m 44s	-04° 46’ 32”	10.88		Leo
	20 Massalia	07h 51m 08s	+20° 23’ 25”	10.90		Gemini
	10 Hygiea	11h 38m 26s	-00° 35’ 51”	11.11		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
	Southern Taurids	10 Oct	02h 06m	+09°	5	bright	Comet Encke
	Daytime Sextantids	27 Sep	10h 05m	+00°	5	bright