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Today's highlights

• NEW! Check out the Mars Perseverance Rover Photostream!
• The Sun is in the constellation of Aquarius. The Moon is in the constellation of Virgo and it is in Waning Gibbous phase.
• Comet C/2019 N1 (ATLAS) latest observed magnitude is 11.6 and it is in the constellation of Octans. It should be visible with the help of a telescope havng an aperture of 8 inches (200mm) or more.
• Comet C/2019 L3 (ATLAS) latest observed magnitude is 12.8 and it is in the constellation of Cassiopeia. It should be visible with the help of a telescope havng an aperture of 10 inches (250mm) or more.
• Comet P/2016 J3 (STEREO = 2021 A3) latest estimated magnitude is 12.94 and it is in the constellation of Telescopium. It should be visible with the help of a telescope havng an aperture of 10 inches (250mm) or more.
• The next close approach with a Near Earth Object (NEO) will happen with Asteroid (NEO) 2011 DW on Mar 1 2021 at 17:05 UTC (5 hours 45 minutes), at an approach distance of 5,394,820 kilometers, or 14.03 lunar distances, and a relative speed of 13.61 kilometers per second.
• Asteroid 4 Vesta is at opposition, current elongation 168.6°
• Asteroid 29 Amphitrite is at opposition, current elongation 170.2°

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	22h 49m 08s	-07° 30’ 57”	1,936.5”	-26.76		Aquarius
	Moon	12h 40m 15s	-00° 19’ 45”	1,959.3”	-12.09		Virgo

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	22h 27m 54s	-11° 05’ 00”	9.8”	-3.91		Aquarius
	Jupiter	21h 16m 15s	-16° 27’ 42”	32.3”	-1.97		Capricornus
	Mercury	21h 06m 00s	-16° 10’ 56”	7.8”	0.15		Capricornus
	Mars	03h 42m 16s	+21° 09’ 08”	6.4”	0.92		Taurus
	Saturn	20h 43m 06s	-18° 39’ 10”	14.9”	1.42		Capricornus
	Uranus	02h 20m 28s	+13° 33’ 26”	3.4”	5.83		Aries
	Neptune	23h 24m 51s	-04° 56’ 52”	2.2”	7.96		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 (193)

	Comet	R.A.	Decl.	Magnitude (Observed)Mag Obs	Magnitude (Estimated)Mag Pred		Coma DiameterComa Diam	ConstellationConst	Map
	C/2019 N1 (ATLAS)	00h 09m 32s	-87° 54’ 42”	11.6	13.89		7.9'	Octans Oct
	C/2019 L3 (ATLAS)	01h 27m 32s	+52° 00’ 35”	12.8	14.72		1.4'	Cassiopeia Cas
	P/2016 J3 (STEREO)	19h 29m 10s	-52° 29’ 08”	-	12.94		-	Telescopium Tel
	156P/Russell-LINEAR	04h 10m 03s	+40° 24’ 41”	13.0	17.87		1.3'	Perseus Per
	C/2020 R4 (ATLAS)	20h 39m 26s	-11° 33’ 26”	-	13.65		-	Aquarius Aqr
	C/2020 T2 (Palomar)	14h 05m 02s	+31° 07’ 28”	13.9	15.14		3.4'	Canes Venatici CVn
	C/2021 A4 (NEOWISE)	04h 31m 25s	+15° 09’ 39”	14.1	15.74		1.1'	Taurus Tau
	75D/Kohoutek (Lost)	03h 12m 28s	+18° 37’ 59”	-	14.33		-	Aries Ari
	C/2017 K2 (PANSTARRS)	18h 23m 02s	+36° 53’ 14”	14.5	15.34		1.1'	Lyra Lyr
	C/2020 M3 (ATLAS)	06h 14m 45s	+47° 31’ 24”	14.5	18.02		2.1'	Auriga Aur
	398P/Boattini	06h 53m 23s	+26° 32’ 16”	14.6	16.40		1.1'	Gemini Gem
	C/2020 J1 (SONEAR)	17h 47m 07s	-40° 02’ 01”	15.5	14.72		0.3'	Scorpius Sco
	141P/Machholz 2	04h 03m 06s	+05° 57’ 27”	-	15.04		-	Taurus Tau
	C/2021 A7 (NEOWISE)	05h 56m 48s	-50° 44’ 02”	15.1	16.64		3.3'	Pictor Pic
	C/2019 F1 (ATLAS-Africano)	18h 03m 24s	-59° 11’ 51”	-	15.16		-	Pavo Pav
	246P/NEAT	18h 21m 53s	-22° 47’ 44”	-	15.28		-	Sagittarius Sgr
	C/2020 F5 (MASTER)	22h 16m 33s	-45° 29’ 16”	-	15.43		-	Grus Gru
	C/2021 A2	05h 22m 17s	+36° 23’ 56”	-	15.51		-	Auriga Aur
	C/2019 T4 (ATLAS)	08h 01m 26s	-37° 57’ 30”	-	15.57		-	Puppis Pup
	C/2017 T2 (PANSTARRS)	17h 41m 16s	-34° 17’ 19”	15.9	15.94		0.9'	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
	4 Vesta	11h 21m 27s	+15° 40’ 54”	5.86		Leo
	1 Ceres	00h 22m 45s	-05° 51’ 47”	9.22		Pisces
	29 Amphitrite	10h 20m 04s	+14° 11’ 58”	9.26		Leo
	15 Eunomia	07h 43m 07s	+16° 06’ 36”	9.41		Gemini
	7 Iris	22h 52m 51s	-03° 08’ 13”	9.79		Pisces
	14 Irene	08h 09m 43s	+31° 15’ 14”	10.00		Cancer
	9 Metis	13h 31m 01s	-01° 27’ 02”	10.14		Virgo
	18 Melpomene	08h 34m 39s	+15° 43’ 06”	10.22		Cancer
	8 Flora	03h 44m 40s	+17° 21’ 34”	10.47		Taurus
	2 Pallas	21h 39m 03s	+01° 34’ 31”	10.48		Aquarius

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
	Gamma Normids	14 Mar	15h 54m	-50°	6	bright