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A Complete Guide to the Solar System and the Night Sky
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public Observing fromLocation: Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt
SunriseRise: 6:04  
clear_day Transit: 12:06  
SunsetSet: 18:09
sunny DaytimeWhat's Visible Now?

Today's Highlights

  • The Sun is in the constellation of Pisces. The Moon is in the constellation of Gemini and it is in Waxing Gibbous phase.
  • Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks is in the constellation of Pisces and its latest observed magnitude is 5.2. It should be barely visible to the naked eye, easily visible with the help of a small binocular.
  • Comet C/2021 S3 (PANSTARRS) is in the constellation of Aquila and its latest observed magnitude is 10.7. It should be visible with the help of a telescope having an aperture of 6 inches (150mm) or more.
  • Comet 13P/Olbers is in the constellation of Aries and its latest observed magnitude is 11.5. It should be visible with the help of a telescope having an aperture of 8 inches (200mm) or more.
  • The next close approach with a Near Earth Object (NEO) will happen with Asteroid (NEO) 2023 FN13 on Apr 14 2024 at 10:56 UTC (26 days 2 hours 37 minutes), at an approach distance of 1,272,862 kilometers, or 3.31 lunar distances, and a relative speed of 4.90 kilometers per second.
  • Asteroid 3 Juno is at opposition, current elongation 160.7°

Popular Objects This Week

Popular objects this week

The Solar System Today

This interactive 3D view shows the current positions of the major bodies of the Solar System and the brightest comets. For more advanced features, check out our 3D Solar System Viewer.

Animate view
Left-click and drag to change the viewing angles; Right-click and drag to pan; Pinch or mouse-wheel to zoom.
View larger 3D Solar System Simulator

The Sun and the Moon Today

Here is how the Sun and the Moon look like today.

Credit: NASA, SDO, and the HMI Science Team
Information about the Sun
Current Sun Sky Map
Phase: Waxing Gibbous  Age: 9.05 days
Information about the Moon
Current Moon Sky Map
R.A. Decl. Apparent Diameter MagnitudeMag ConstellationConst Charts
radio_button_checked Sun 23h 55m 55s -00° 26’ 35” 1,927.2” -26.75 trending_flat Pisces location_searching map
radio_button_checked Moon 07h 47m 12s +25° 32’ 05” 1,797.9” -10.89 trending_up Gemini map
radio_button_checked Current altitude ≥ 30°   radio_button_checked Current altitude < 30°   radio_button_checked Below the horizon
 From: Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt

The Planets Today

This table shows current essential information about the planets. By clicking on each row it is possible to view full details for each planet.

Planet R.A. Decl. Apparent Diameter MagnitudeMag ConstellationConst Charts
radio_button_checked Venus 22h 43m 50s -09° 25’ 26” 10.6” -3.88 trending_flat Aquarius location_searching map
radio_button_checked Jupiter 02h 48m 46s +15° 20’ 18” 34.1” -2.10 trending_flat Aries location_searching map
radio_button_checked Mercury 00h 56m 40s +07° 28’ 54” 6.4” -0.79 trending_down Pisces location_searching map
radio_button_checked Saturn 22h 55m 23s -08° 39’ 20” 15.1” 1.03 trending_flat Aquarius location_searching map
radio_button_checked Mars 21h 57m 50s -13° 40’ 04” 4.4” 1.28 trending_flat Capricornus location_searching map
radio_button_checked Uranus 03h 10m 04s +17° 26’ 30” 3.5” 5.83 trending_flat Aries location_searching map
radio_button_checked Neptune 23h 51m 16s -02° 16’ 12” 2.2” 7.83 trending_flat Pisces location_searching map
radio_button_checked Current altitude ≥ 30°   radio_button_checked Current altitude < 30°   radio_button_checked Below the horizon
 From: Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt

The image below shows the current position of the 4 Galilean satellites of Jupiter. A page dedicated to Jupiter's moons is available, with more advanced features.

Current positions of Jupiter's Galilean moons

The image below shows the current inclination of the rings of Saturn and the positions of its major satellites. A page dedicated to the system of Saturn is available, with more advanced features.

Current inclination of Saturn's rings and position of its major moons

The image below shows a comparison between the apparent size of the planets as they appear today. The apparent size of a planet depends on its size and the distance from Earth. The larger the distance, the smaller the apparent size.

Mercury
6.4”
Venus
10.6”
Mars
4.4”
Jupiter
34.1”
Saturn
15.1”
Uranus
3.5”
Neptune
2.2”

Credits for the planet images: NASA-APL - NASA.

Top 10 Brightest Comets

This is a list of the brightest comets currently visible in the sky. A more extensive list of (239) bright and interesting comets is available on the site, please check it out.

Comet R.A. Decl. Magnitude (Observed)Mag Obs Magnitude (Estimated)Mag Pred Coma DiameterComa Diam ConstellationConst Charts
radio_button_checked 12P/Pons-Brooks 01h 10m 47s +29° 38’ 00” 5.2 5.99 0.0' Pisces Psc location_searching map
radio_button_checked C/2021 S3 (PANSTARRS) 18h 59m 09s +10° 46’ 24” 10.7 7.27 1.9' Aquila Aql location_searching map
radio_button_checked 13P/Olbers 03h 23m 31s +10° 39’ 05” 11.5 11.01 1.0' Aries Ari location_searching map
radio_button_checked 62P/Tsuchinshan 12h 20m 53s +10° 20’ 08” 11.8 13.30 3.2' Virgo Vir location_searching map
radio_button_checked C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) 14h 50m 46s -06° 11’ 33” 12.3 12.97 1.2' Libra Lib location_searching map
radio_button_checked 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 08h 04m 19s +21° 24’ 43” 13.1 17.41 3.4' Cancer Cnc location_searching map
radio_button_checked C/2022 E2 (ATLAS) 07h 10m 14s +28° 43’ 01” 13.6 13.75 1.8' Gemini Gem location_searching map
radio_button_checked 144P/Kushida 06h 31m 28s +17° 32’ 19” 13.7 15.24 1.3' Gemini Gem location_searching map
radio_button_checked C/2021 G2 (Atlas) 12h 04m 23s -37° 12’ 18” 14.3 14.63 0.6' Centaurus Cen location_searching map
radio_button_checked C/2019 U5 (PANSTARRS) 07h 44m 20s -41° 37’ 27” 14.5 15.19 0.5' Puppis Pup location_searching map
radio_button_checked Current altitude ≥ 30°   radio_button_checked Current altitude < 30°   radio_button_checked Below the horizon
 From: Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt

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.

Brightest Asteroids Visible Today

This is a list of the top 10 brightest asteroids visible tonight. Click on each line to go to the asteroids's detail page. You can also check the full list of tracked asteroids and dwarf planets (79).

Asteroid R.A. Decl. MagnitudeMag ConstellationConst Charts
radio_button_checked 4 Vesta 05h 44m 46s +24° 11’ 32” 7.99 Taurus location_searching map
radio_button_checked 1 Ceres 18h 55m 39s -23° 16’ 44” 8.93 Sagittarius location_searching map
radio_button_checked 3 Juno 10h 42m 56s +06° 52’ 41” 8.96 Leo location_searching map
radio_button_checked 2 Pallas 16h 46m 25s +13° 24’ 38” 9.28 Hercules location_searching map
radio_button_checked 15 Eunomia 23h 27m 58s +04° 11’ 30” 9.96 Pisces location_searching map
radio_button_checked 6 Hebe 14h 53m 19s +03° 19’ 44” 10.25 Virgo location_searching map
radio_button_checked 9 Metis 06h 09m 52s +28° 26’ 25” 10.54 Auriga location_searching map
radio_button_checked 349 Dembowska 10h 36m 38s +18° 33’ 28” 10.66 Leo location_searching map
radio_button_checked 12 Victoria 12h 41m 23s -15° 21’ 56” 10.68 Corvus location_searching map
radio_button_checked 8 Flora 02h 22m 59s +10° 28’ 58” 10.82 Cetus location_searching map
radio_button_checked Current altitude ≥ 30°   radio_button_checked Current altitude < 30°   radio_button_checked Below the horizon
 From: Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt

Active Meteor Showers Visible 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. The data used here is derived from Wikipedia.

Name Peak Radiant R.A. Radiant Decl. ZHR Rating Parent Object Charts
radio_button_checked Gamma Normids 14 Mar 15h 54m -50° 6 bright map
radio_button_checked Current altitude ≥ 30°   radio_button_checked Current altitude < 30°   radio_button_checked Below the horizon
 From: Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt