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- NEW! Check out all the known upcoming close approaches between Earth and NEO (Near Earth Object) Asteroids.
- Find key 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 to data you can find in this page:
- 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 | 02h 13m 24s | +13° 24’ 21” | 1,907.0” | -26.73 | Aries |
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Moon | 20h 10m 33s | -20° 55’ 17” | 1,786.4” | -10.21 |
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Sagittarius |
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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 | 00h 27m 14s | +01° 11’ 15” | 11.7” | -3.85 | Pisces |
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Jupiter | 17h 32m 40s | -22° 39’ 15” | 42.0” | -2.42 |
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Ophiucus |
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Mercury | 00h 49m 45s | +02° 24’ 22” | 6.2” | -0.17 |
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Cetus |
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Saturn | 19h 27m 19s | -21° 31’ 17” | 16.5” | 1.32 | Sagittarius |
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Mars | 05h 02m 50s | +23° 50’ 49” | 4.2” | 1.61 | Taurus |
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Uranus | 02h 01m 46s | +11° 52’ 14” | 3.4” | 5.89 | Aries |
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Neptune | 23h 16m 03s | -05° 47’ 09” | 2.2” | 7.94 | Aquarius |
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= current altitude ≥ 30°
= current altitude < 30°
= below the horizonLocation: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]
Current Planets Apparent Size Comparison
6.2”
11.7”
4.2”
42.0”
16.5”
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 (148)
| Comet | R.A. | Decl. | Magnitude (Observed)Mag Obs | Magnitude (Estimated)Mag Pred | Coma DiameterComa Diam | ConstellationConst | Map | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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78P/Gehrels 2 | 03h 00m 58s | +15° 25’ 51” | - | 13.17 | - | Aries Ari |
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46P/Wirtanen | 10h 25m 25s | +28° 17’ 08” | 13.6 | 20.54 |
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6.0' | Leo Minor LMi |
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C/2018 N2 (ASASSN) | 01h 52m 08s | -05° 26’ 50” | - | 14.25 |
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- | Cetus Cet |
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C/2019 D1 (Flewelling) | 21h 22m 52s | +14° 37’ 41” | 14.3 | 15.78 |
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1.2' | Pegasus Peg |
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C/2017 M4 (ATLAS) | 16h 41m 50s | -35° 38’ 24” | - | 14.47 | - | Scorpius Sco |
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38P/Stephan-Oterma | 09h 24m 06s | +36° 53’ 06” | 14.6 | 15.82 |
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2.1' | Leo Minor LMi |
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C/2018 A6 (Gibbs) | 07h 32m 06s | -55° 26’ 09” | - | 14.94 | - | Carina Car |
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C/2018 R3 (Lemmon) | 00h 31m 50s | +47° 11’ 58” | - | 14.94 |
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- | Cassiopeia Cas |
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C/2016 M1 (PANSTARRS) | 05h 03m 32s | -40° 34’ 55” | - | 15.03 |
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- | Caelum Cae |
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29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 1 | 00h 19m 31s | +09° 01’ 50” | - | 15.34 |
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- | Pisces Psc |
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C/2017 T2 (PANSTARRS) | 03h 31m 15s | +08° 32’ 52” | - | 15.39 |
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- | Taurus Tau |
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C/2016 R2 (PANSTARRS) | 15h 29m 47s | +48° 15’ 17” | 15.4 | 16.06 |
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1.4' | Bootes Boo |
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C/2017 B3 (LINEAR) | 23h 49m 03s | -47° 33’ 50” | - | 15.54 | - | Phoenix Phe |
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P/2010 H2 (Vales) | 20h 52m 25s | -28° 57’ 44” | - | 15.58 |
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- | Microscopium Mic |
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C/2018 W2 (Africano) | 03h 30m 08s | +71° 49’ 38” | 15.6 | 15.86 |
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0.9' | Cassiopeia Cas |
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C/2016 N6 (PANSTARRS) | 05h 39m 22s | -19° 42’ 34” | - | 15.87 |
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- | Lepus Lep |
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C/2018 X2 (Fitzsimmons) | 06h 08m 26s | +38° 06’ 38” | - | 16.08 |
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- | Auriga Aur |
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C/2018 A3 (ATLAS) | 03h 51m 26s | +51° 36’ 42” | - | 16.39 |
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- | Perseus Per |
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C/2015 O1 (PANSTARRS) | 08h 48m 45s | +38° 36’ 53” | - | 16.62 |
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- | Lynx Lyn |
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C/2018 L2 (ATLAS) | 01h 03m 50s | +46° 02’ 14” | - | 16.64 |
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- | Andromeda And |
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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 (68)
| Asteroid | R.A. | Decl. | MagnitudeMag | ConstellationConst | Map | ||
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1 Ceres | 16h 49m 15s | -16° 59’ 57” | 7.68 |
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Ophiucus |
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2 Pallas | 13h 42m 51s | +21° 54’ 04” | 8.15 |
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Bootes |
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4 Vesta | 00h 46m 25s | -00° 32’ 48” | 8.20 | Cetus |
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7 Iris | 12h 25m 49s | -10° 37’ 11” | 9.80 |
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Virgo |
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3 Juno | 06h 10m 18s | +14° 22’ 15” | 9.94 |
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Orion |
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11 Parthenope | 15h 46m 12s | -12° 14’ 53” | 9.95 |
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Libra |
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8 Flora | 15h 37m 27s | -10° 37’ 26” | 9.97 |
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Libra |
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20 Massalia | 16h 09m 50s | -20° 30’ 40” | 10.29 |
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Scorpius |
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15 Eunomia | 21h 11m 43s | -16° 07’ 27” | 10.42 |
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Capricornus |
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6 Hebe | 07h 06m 02s | +19° 54’ 07” | 10.76 |
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Gemini |
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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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Pi Puppids | 23 Apr | 07h 18m | -45° | variable | bright | 26P/Grigg-Skjellerup |
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= current altitude ≥ 30°
= current altitude < 30°
= below the horizonLocation: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]