Today's Highlights
- The Sun is in the constellation of Aries. The Moon is in the constellation of Cancer and it is in Waxing Crescent phase.
- The Sun and Uranus are in conjunction with an apparent angular separation of 0° 43’ 26”, currently increasing. See in Planetarium.
- Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks is in the constellation of Eridanus and its latest observed magnitude is 5.4. It should be barely visible to the naked eye, easily visible with the help of a small binocular.
- Comet 13P/Olbers is in the constellation of Auriga and its latest observed magnitude is 8.4. It should be visible with the help of a binocular with a 40-50mm aperture or a small telescope.
- Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) is in the constellation of Virgo and its latest observed magnitude is 10.0. It should be visible with the help of a binocular with a 80mm aperture or a small telescope.
- The next close approach with a Near Earth Object (NEO) will happen with Asteroid (NEO) 2024 JN16 on May 14 2024 at 09:50 UTC (6 hours 45 minutes), at an approach distance of 24,977 kilometers, or 0.06 lunar distances, and a relative speed of 9.26 kilometers per second.
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.
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 | Charts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sun | 03h 24m 24s | +18° 38’ 25” | 1,898.6” | -26.72 | Aries | location_searching map |
| Moon | 08h 46m 14s | +21° 56’ 45” | 1,807.2” | -9.41 | Cancer | map |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Venus | 03h 01m 57s | +16° 17’ 00” | 9.7” | -3.89 | Aries | location_searching map |
| Jupiter | 03h 39m 01s | +18° 44’ 17” | 32.0” | -2.00 | Taurus | location_searching map |
| Mercury | 01h 47m 41s | +07° 41’ 37” | 7.5” | 0.30 | Pisces | location_searching map |
| Saturn | 23h 16m 15s | -06° 38’ 46” | 16.0” | 1.06 | Aquarius | location_searching map |
| Mars | 00h 38m 44s | +02° 49’ 10” | 4.9” | 1.10 | Pisces | location_searching map |
| Uranus | 03h 21m 55s | +18° 13’ 03” | 3.4” | 5.87 | Aries | location_searching map |
| Neptune | 23h 58m 07s | -01° 33’ 13” | 2.2” | 7.80 | Pisces | location_searching map |
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.
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.
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.
7.5”
9.7”
4.9”
32.0”
16.0”
3.4”
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 (241) 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 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12P/Pons-Brooks | 04h 45m 00s | -06° 28’ 53” | 5.4 | 5.24 |
|
6.0' | Eridanus Eri | location_searching map | |
| 13P/Olbers | 05h 12m 55s | +31° 10’ 41” | 8.4 | 8.77 |
|
2.0' | Auriga Aur | location_searching map | |
| C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) | 12h 47m 26s | +00° 56’ 47” | 10.0 | 11.26 |
|
2.2' | Virgo Vir | location_searching map | |
| C/2021 S3 (PANSTARRS) | 20h 31m 26s | +49° 42’ 18” | 11.3 | 8.96 |
|
2.0' | Cygnus Cyg | location_searching map | |
| C/2020 V2 (ZTF) | 00h 31m 35s | -45° 26’ 35” | 13.3 | 14.77 |
|
2.5' | Phoenix Phe | location_searching map | |
| C/2021 G2 (Atlas) | 11h 52m 08s | -28° 48’ 20” | 13.9 | 14.57 |
|
0.4' | Hydra Hya | location_searching map | |
| 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann | 08h 15m 26s | +20° 08’ 54” | 14.0 | 17.73 |
|
1.1' | Cancer Cnc | location_searching map | |
| C/2022 E2 (ATLAS) | 06h 49m 58s | +33° 26’ 26” | 14.0 | 14.04 |
|
0.7' | Gemini Gem | location_searching map | |
| 32P/Comas Sola | 06h 37m 08s | +30° 07’ 06” | 14.1 | 15.89 |
|
0.7' | Auriga Aur | location_searching map | |
| C/2019 T4 (ATLAS) | 17h 41m 36s | +31° 27’ 36” | 14.5 | 16.90 | 0.4' | Hercules Her | location_searching map |
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 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Ceres | 19h 33m 53s | -25° 00’ 34” | 8.27 |
|
Sagittarius | location_searching map | |
| 4 Vesta | 07h 04m 02s | +24° 35’ 46” | 8.35 | Gemini | location_searching map | ||
| 2 Pallas | 16h 31m 53s | +25° 28’ 14” | 8.99 |
|
Hercules | location_searching map | |
| 6 Hebe | 14h 13m 04s | +09° 14’ 42” | 9.98 |
|
Bootes | location_searching map | |
| 15 Eunomia | 01h 16m 46s | +17° 07’ 07” | 10.14 | Pisces | location_searching map | ||
| 3 Juno | 10h 39m 18s | +10° 41’ 58” | 10.17 |
|
Leo | location_searching map | |
| 7 Iris | 21h 09m 41s | -12° 43’ 37” | 10.37 |
|
Aquarius | location_searching map | |
| 8 Flora | 04h 34m 37s | +19° 51’ 09” | 10.81 | Taurus | location_searching map | ||
| 29 Amphitrite | 04h 11m 16s | +25° 18’ 10” | 10.88 |
|
Taurus | location_searching map | |
| 12 Victoria | 12h 02m 44s | -07° 40’ 38” | 11.02 |
|
Virgo | location_searching map |
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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eta Aquariids | 6 May | 22h 30m | -01° | 50 | bright | 1P/Halley | map | |
| Daytime Arietids | 7 Jun | 02h 53m | +24° | 50 | medium | 1566 Icarus ? | map | |