Welcome to your guide to the Solar System
- 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 year 2035 using our Online Planetarium.
- Discover our 3D Solar System Simulator
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
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!
View larger 3D Solar System Simulator
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 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Sun | 04h 04m 17s | +20° 46’ 40” | 1,894.8” | -26.71 |
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Taurus |
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Moon | 21h 04m 18s | -18° 59’ 14” | 1,781.5” | -10.68 |
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Capricornus |
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= current altitude ≥ 30°
= current altitude < 30°
= below the horizonLocation: 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 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Venus | 02h 36m 58s | +13° 48’ 31” | 10.7” | -3.82 | Aries |
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Jupiter | 17h 22m 11s | -22° 32’ 22” | 44.5” | -2.58 |
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Ophiucus |
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Mercury | 04h 20m 48s | +22° 22’ 39” | 5.1” | -1.97 |
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Taurus |
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Saturn | 19h 25m 17s | -21° 36’ 49” | 17.2” | 1.16 |
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Sagittarius |
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Mars | 06h 23m 32s | +24° 28’ 13” | 3.9” | 1.73 | Gemini |
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Uranus | 02h 07m 49s | +12° 24’ 18” | 3.4” | 5.88 |
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Aries |
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Neptune | 23h 18m 20s | -05° 33’ 48” | 2.2” | 7.91 | Aquarius |
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= current altitude ≥ 30°
= current altitude < 30°
= below the horizonLocation: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]
Current Planets Apparent Size Comparison
5.1”
10.7”
3.9”
44.5”
17.2”
3.4”
2.2”
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 (151)
| Comet | R.A. | Decl. | Magnitude (Observed)Mag Obs | Magnitude (Estimated)Mag Pred | Coma DiameterComa Diam | ConstellationConst | Map | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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78P/Gehrels 2 | 04h 10m 00s | +18° 38’ 56” | - | 13.33 |
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- | Taurus Tau |
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C/2018 N2 (ASASSN) | 02h 12m 05s | +00° 32’ 47” | - | 14.36 |
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- | Cetus Cet |
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C/2017 M4 (ATLAS) | 15h 29m 10s | -41° 48’ 57” | - | 14.52 |
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- | Lupus Lup |
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C/2018 A6 (Gibbs) | 07h 25m 16s | -52° 31’ 34” | - | 14.84 | - | Carina Car |
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C/2017 T2 (PANSTARRS) | 03h 53m 29s | +11° 46’ 14” | - | 14.96 |
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- | Taurus Tau |
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29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 1 | 00h 37m 59s | +11° 29’ 44” | - | 15.25 | - | Pisces Psc |
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C/2018 W2 (Africano) | 04h 00m 56s | +65° 34’ 23” | - | 15.30 |
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- | Camelopardalis Cam |
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C/2016 M1 (PANSTARRS) | 05h 37m 37s | -34° 02’ 34” | - | 15.42 |
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- | Columba Col |
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P/2010 H2 (Vales) | 21h 05m 00s | -30° 13’ 48” | - | 15.42 | - | Microscopium Mic |
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C/2017 B3 (LINEAR) | 00h 15m 50s | -45° 27’ 58” | - | 15.48 | - | Phoenix Phe |
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C/2018 R3 (Lemmon) | 03h 47m 32s | +59° 56’ 38” | - | 15.73 |
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- | Camelopardalis Cam |
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C/2019 D1 (Flewelling) | 22h 41m 30s | +28° 44’ 48” | - | 15.79 |
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- | Pegasus Peg |
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C/2016 N6 (PANSTARRS) | 05h 52m 58s | -20° 21’ 17” | - | 16.33 |
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- | Lepus Lep |
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C/2016 R2 (PANSTARRS) | 15h 01m 32s | +45° 43’ 07” | - | 16.38 |
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- | Bootes Boo |
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C/2018 A3 (ATLAS) | 04h 05m 54s | +49° 21’ 24” | - | 16.68 |
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- | Perseus Per |
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C/2018 F4 (PANSTARRS) | 11h 23m 14s | -56° 52’ 40” | - | 16.69 | - | Centaurus Cen |
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209P/LINEAR | 08h 50m 31s | +37° 14’ 41” | - | 16.89 |
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- | Lynx Lyn |
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38P/Stephan-Oterma | 10h 01m 15s | +31° 32’ 44” | - | 16.90 |
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- | Leo Leo |
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C/2015 O1 (PANSTARRS) | 08h 44m 02s | +35° 09’ 42” | - | 16.97 |
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- | Lynx Lyn |
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C/2018 X2 (Fitzsimmons) | 07h 17m 32s | +33° 07’ 46” | - | 17.21 |
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- | Gemini Gem |
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= current altitude ≥ 30°
= current altitude < 30°
= below the horizonLocation: 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 (71)
| Asteroid | R.A. | Decl. | MagnitudeMag | ConstellationConst | Map | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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1 Ceres | 16h 27m 29s | -17° 34’ 00” | 7.03 |
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Ophiucus |
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4 Vesta | 01h 33m 56s | +03° 51’ 27” | 8.27 | Pisces |
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2 Pallas | 13h 28m 34s | +24° 07’ 56” | 8.75 |
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Coma |
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11 Parthenope | 15h 20m 37s | -10° 45’ 05” | 9.69 |
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Libra |
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20 Massalia | 15h 43m 15s | -19° 04’ 30” | 9.87 |
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Libra |
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8 Flora | 15h 08m 37s | -09° 10’ 51” | 9.88 |
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Libra |
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15 Eunomia | 21h 37m 42s | -12° 23’ 14” | 10.00 |
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Capricornus |
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18 Melpomene | 19h 05m 01s | -08° 44’ 33” | 10.11 |
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Aquila |
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3 Juno | 07h 07m 37s | +15° 11’ 36” | 10.14 | Gemini |
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7 Iris | 12h 16m 16s | -08° 17’ 36” | 10.42 |
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Virgo |
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= current altitude ≥ 30°
= current altitude < 30°
= below the horizonLocation: 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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Eta Aquariids | 6 May | 22h 30m | -01° | 50 | bright | 1P/Halley |
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Daytime Arietids | 7 Jun | 02h 54m | +24° | 50 | medium | 1566 Icarus ? |
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= current altitude ≥ 30°
= current altitude < 30°
= below the horizonLocation: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]