Today's Highlights
- The Sun is in the constellation of Taurus. The Moon is in the constellation of Leo and it is in Waxing Gibbous phase.
- The Sun and Jupiter are in conjunction with an apparent angular separation of 1° 38’ 41”, currently decreasing. See in Planetarium.
- Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks is in the constellation of Eridanus and its latest observed magnitude is 5.8. It should be easily visible with the help of a small binocular.
- Comet 13P/Olbers is in the constellation of Auriga and its latest observed magnitude is 8.5. It should be visible with the help of a binocular with a 60-70mm aperture or a small telescope.
- Comet C/2021 S3 (PANSTARRS) is in the constellation of Cygnus and its latest observed magnitude is 11.6. It should be visible with the help of a telescope having an aperture of 8 inches (200mm) or more.
- The next close approach with a Near Earth Object (NEO) will happen with Asteroid (NEO) 2024 JG17 on May 17 2024 at 03:47 UTC (9 hours 36 minutes), at an approach distance of 1,830,892 kilometers, or 4.76 lunar distances, and a relative speed of 7.90 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 34m 47s | +19° 15’ 20” | 1,897.6” | -26.72 | Taurus | location_searching map |
Moon | 10h 50m 36s | +09° 59’ 55” | 1,773.7” | -10.47 | Leo | 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 14m 51s | +17° 14’ 37” | 9.7” | -3.89 | Aries | location_searching map |
Jupiter | 03h 41m 34s | +18° 52’ 58” | 32.0” | -1.99 | Taurus | location_searching map |
Mercury | 01h 59m 48s | +08° 53’ 43” | 7.2” | 0.18 | Pisces | location_searching map |
Saturn | 23h 16m 56s | -06° 34’ 58” | 16.0” | 1.05 | Aquarius | location_searching map |
Mars | 00h 46m 07s | +03° 36’ 36” | 4.9” | 1.08 | Pisces | location_searching map |
Uranus | 03h 22m 32s | +18° 15’ 22” | 3.4” | 5.87 | Aries | location_searching map |
Neptune | 23h 58m 22s | -01° 31’ 48” | 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.
7.2”
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 53m 45s | -08° 18’ 55” | 5.8 | 5.41 | 4.5' | Eridanus Eri | location_searching map | ||
13P/Olbers | 05h 20m 40s | +32° 06’ 37” | 8.5 | 8.67 | 2.5' | Auriga Aur | location_searching map | ||
C/2021 S3 (PANSTARRS) | 20h 33m 04s | +50° 52’ 20” | 11.6 | 9.05 | 1.7' | Cygnus Cyg | location_searching map | ||
C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) | 12h 40m 26s | +01° 15’ 14” | 11.9 | 11.20 | 0.0' | Virgo Vir | location_searching map | ||
C/2020 V2 (ZTF) | 00h 32m 46s | -45° 54’ 31” | 13.7 | 14.78 | 1.6' | Phoenix Phe | location_searching map | ||
C/2021 G2 (Atlas) | 11h 52m 21s | -28° 21’ 46” | 13.9 | 14.58 | 1.6' | Hydra Hya | location_searching map | ||
29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann | 08h 16m 40s | +20° 03’ 14” | 14.0 | 17.75 | 1.1' | Cancer Cnc | location_searching map | ||
C/2022 E2 (ATLAS) | 06h 50m 21s | +33° 37’ 00” | 14.0 | 14.05 | 0.7' | Gemini Gem | location_searching map | ||
144P/Kushida | 09h 10m 24s | +12° 03’ 45” | 14.1 | 17.26 | 1.5' | Cancer Cnc | location_searching map | ||
32P/Comas Sola | 06h 44m 06s | +30° 01’ 49” | 14.4 | 15.92 | 0.6' | Gemini Gem | 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 59s | -25° 10’ 32” | 8.22 | Sagittarius | location_searching map | ||
4 Vesta | 07h 08m 31s | +24° 31’ 29” | 8.35 | Gemini | location_searching map | ||
2 Pallas | 16h 29m 44s | +25° 46’ 29” | 9.00 | Hercules | location_searching map | ||
6 Hebe | 14h 11m 04s | +09° 18’ 01” | 10.03 | Bootes | location_searching map | ||
15 Eunomia | 01h 22m 02s | +17° 42’ 03” | 10.14 | Pisces | location_searching map | ||
3 Juno | 10h 40m 44s | +10° 39’ 55” | 10.23 | Leo | location_searching map | ||
7 Iris | 21h 11m 50s | -12° 26’ 38” | 10.32 | Aquarius | location_searching map | ||
8 Flora | 04h 41m 05s | +20° 07’ 53” | 10.80 | Taurus | location_searching map | ||
29 Amphitrite | 04h 16m 46s | +25° 32’ 05” | 10.86 | Taurus | location_searching map | ||
12 Victoria | 12h 02m 38s | -07° 24’ 52” | 11.07 | 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 | |