The Solar System at your Fingertips
🌎 Location: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]
If you find this website useful please consider a small donation that will help covering hosting costs. Thank you!

Welcome, Get Started!

Quick links to data you can find in this page:

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!

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 Crescent  Age: 4.19 days
Information about the Moon
Current Moon Sky Map
R.A. Decl. Apparent Diameter MagnitudeMag ConstellationConst Map
object currently below the horizon Sun 17h 14m 28s -23° 01’ 27” 1,948.8” -26.78 Ophiucus Show sky map
object currently below the horizon Moon 20h 53m 27s -18° 45’ 58” 1,769.4” -8.19 Capricornus Show sky map
= current altitude ≥ 30°   = current altitude < 30°   = below the horizon
Location: 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
object currently below the horizon Venus 14h 16m 58s -10° 58’ 36” 34.4” -4.81 Virgo Show sky map
object currently below the horizon Jupiter 16h 21m 50s -20° 52’ 14” 30.5” -1.74 Scorpius Show sky map
object currently below the horizon Mercury 15h 49m 09s -17° 24’ 30” 7.2” -0.36 Libra Show sky map
current altitude less than 30 degrees above the horizon Mars 23h 10m 49s -06° 09’ 27” 8.5” 0.15 Aquarius Show sky map
object currently below the horizon Saturn 18h 38m 04s -22° 38’ 17” 14.6” 1.42 Sagittarius Show sky map
current altitude greater than 30 degrees above the horizon Uranus 01h 47m 09s +10° 28’ 27” 3.6” 5.73 Pisces Show sky map
current altitude less than 30 degrees above the horizon Neptune 23h 00m 44s -07° 22’ 58” 2.3” 7.90 Aquarius Show sky map
= current altitude ≥ 30°   = current altitude < 30°   = below the horizon
Location: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]

Current Planets Apparent Size Comparison

Mercury
7.2”
Venus
34.4”
Mars
8.5”
Jupiter
30.5”
Saturn
14.6”
Uranus
3.6”
Neptune
2.3”

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 (139)

Comet R.A. Decl. Magnitude (Observed)Mag Obs Magnitude (Estimated)Mag Pred Coma DiameterComa Diam ConstellationConst Map
current altitude greater than 30 degrees above the horizon 46P/Wirtanen 03h 24m 12s +05° 27’ 12” 4.8 9.66 46.6' Cetus Cet Show sky map
current altitude greater than 30 degrees above the horizon 64P/Swift-Gehrels 02h 08m 17s +32° 52’ 09” 9.3 14.74 6.9' Triangulum Tri Show sky map
object currently below the horizon C/2018 V1 (Machholz-Fujikawa-Iwamoto) 18h 48m 20s -12° 32’ 17” - 9.90 - Scutum Sct Show sky map
current altitude greater than 30 degrees above the horizon 38P/Stephan-Oterma 08h 23m 06s +32° 58’ 30” 10.1 10.63 4.0' Cancer Cnc Show sky map
object currently below the horizon C/2016 M1 (PANSTARRS) 16h 22m 09s -80° 46’ 16” 10.6 13.52 3.7' Apus Aps Show sky map
object currently below the horizon C/2016 N6 (PANSTARRS) 08h 04m 29s -12° 18’ 59” 12.3 13.35 1.0' Puppis Pup Show sky map
current altitude less than 30 degrees above the horizon 78P/Gehrels 2 22h 19m 18s -07° 03’ 49” - 13.08 - Aquarius Aqr Show sky map
current altitude less than 30 degrees above the horizon 48P/Johnson 23h 32m 22s -17° 24’ 54” 13.7 15.23 1.0' Aquarius Aqr Show sky map
object currently below the horizon C/2018 L2 (ATLAS) 17h 57m 28s +12° 13’ 09” - 14.02 - Ophiucus Oph Show sky map
object currently below the horizon 21P/Giacobini-Zinner 06h 52m 10s -39° 40’ 21” - 14.69 - Puppis Pup Show sky map
object currently below the horizon C/2018 N2 (ASASSN) 01h 13m 16s -39° 15’ 19” - 14.89 - Phoenix Phe Show sky map
current altitude less than 30 degrees above the horizon 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 1 22h 50m 28s -00° 41’ 47” - 15.04 - Aquarius Aqr Show sky map
current altitude less than 30 degrees above the horizon C/2016 R2 (PANSTARRS) 14h 54m 54s +40° 39’ 41” - 15.08 - Bootes Boo Show sky map
current altitude greater than 30 degrees above the horizon C/2018 A3 (ATLAS) 11h 08m 11s +59° 23’ 37” - 15.37 - Ursa Major UMa Show sky map
object currently below the horizon C/2017 M4 (ATLAS) 16h 56m 54s -06° 48’ 36” - 15.43 - Ophiucus Oph Show sky map
object currently below the horizon C/2017 B3 (LINEAR) 18h 36m 29s -67° 35’ 45” - 15.66 - Pavo Pav Show sky map
object currently below the horizon P/2010 H2 (Vales) 18h 01m 51s -29° 00’ 42” - 15.74 - Sagittarius Sgr Show sky map
current altitude less than 30 degrees above the horizon C/2015 O1 (PANSTARRS) 11h 52m 23s +37° 06’ 07” - 15.78 - Ursa Major UMa Show sky map
current altitude greater than 30 degrees above the horizon C/2017 T2 (PANSTARRS) 03h 17m 35s -05° 26’ 36” - 16.17 - Eridanus Eri Show sky map
object currently below the horizon C/2018 A6 (Gibbs) 11h 30m 11s -33° 47’ 12” - 16.33 - Hydra Hya Show sky map
= current altitude ≥ 30°   = current altitude < 30°   = below the horizon
Location: 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 (66)

Asteroid R.A. Decl. MagnitudeMag ConstellationConst Map
current altitude greater than 30 degrees above the horizon 3 Juno 03h 37m 03s -04° 18’ 37” 7.76 Eridanus Show sky map
object currently below the horizon 4 Vesta 20h 30m 57s -22° 35’ 03” 8.00 Capricornus Show sky map
current altitude less than 30 degrees above the horizon 6 Hebe 06h 39m 26s +03° 52’ 17” 8.57 Monoceros Show sky map
object currently below the horizon 1 Ceres 14h 48m 45s -09° 27’ 16” 8.87 Libra Show sky map
object currently below the horizon 2 Pallas 12h 52m 34s -06° 38’ 17” 9.07 Virgo Show sky map
current altitude greater than 30 degrees above the horizon 433 Eros 04h 17m 23s +60° 48’ 43” 9.53 Camelopardalis Show sky map
object currently below the horizon 15 Eunomia 17h 32m 52s -27° 22’ 42” 10.71 Ophiucus Show sky map
current altitude greater than 30 degrees above the horizon 12 Victoria 03h 32m 30s +16° 57’ 41” 10.77 Taurus Show sky map
object currently below the horizon 7 Iris 12h 37m 57s -09° 37’ 16” 10.88 Virgo Show sky map
current altitude less than 30 degrees above the horizon 324 Bamberga 08h 56m 05s +27° 15’ 17” 11.01 Cancer Show sky map
= current altitude ≥ 30°   = current altitude < 30°   = below the horizon
Location: 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
current altitude greater than 30 degrees above the horizon Geminids 14 Dec 07h 30m +33° 120 medium 3200 Phaethon Show sky map
object currently below the horizon Puppid-Velids multiple 08h 11m -45° 10 medium Show sky map
current altitude less than 30 degrees above the horizon Dec. Leonis Minorids 20 Dec 10h 41m +30° 5 medium Show sky map
current altitude less than 30 degrees above the horizon Sigma Hydrids 11 Dec 08h 30m +02° 3 medium Show sky map
current altitude less than 30 degrees above the horizon Monocerotids 8 Dec 06h 41m +08° 2 medium C/1917 F1 (Mellish) Show sky map
= current altitude ≥ 30°   = current altitude < 30°   = below the horizon
Location: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]