A Complete Guide to the Solar System and the Night Sky | TheSkyLive (original) (raw)
Highlights
- The Sun is in Libra, the Moon is Waning Gibbous in Taurus
- T CrB: magnitude10.842 ± 0.030 [2024-11-17 22:57:16 UTC,CCD/B, DEY/AAVSO]
- Mercury is in very favorable conditions for evening observations with a solar elongation of 22.5° (sky map)
- Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS): magnitude 8.8 inSerpens
- Comet 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann: magnitude 12.8 inLeo
- Comet 333P/LINEAR: magnitude 12.8 inLeo
- Next NEO approach:Asteroid (NEO) 2010 WC, Nov 21 2024 at 01:26 UTC,738,692 km, 1.92 lunar distances
- Uranus is at opposition
- Asteroid 11 Parthenope is close to opposition
Popular Objects
Popular objects during the last 7 days based on the number of visualizations.
Sun and Moon
How the Sun and the Moon look like today.
| R.A. | Decl. | Apparent Diameter | MagnitudeMag | ConstellationConst | Charts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| radio_button_checked Sun | 15h 35m 39s | -19° 18’ 29” | 1,941.2” | -26.77 trending_flat | Libra | map my_location |
| radio_button_checked Moon | 05h 41m 58s | +28° 02’ 07” | 1,932.7” | -12.04 trending_down | Taurus | map |
Legend of symbols: ⓘ
The Planets
Current essential information about the planets. Click each planet to view full details.
| Planet | R.A. | Decl. | Diameter | MagnitudeMag | ConstellationConst | Charts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| radio_button_checked Mercury | 17h 09m 13s | -25° 30’ 16” | 6.9” | -0.21 trending_down | Ophiuchus | map my_location |
| radio_button_checked Venus | 18h 33m 21s | -25° 31’ 54” | 15.7” | -4.09 trending_up | Sagittarius | map my_location |
| radio_button_checked Mars | 08h 27m 08s | +21° 12’ 48” | 10.4” | -0.29 trending_up | Cancer | map my_location |
| radio_button_checked Jupiter | 05h 11m 37s | +22° 15’ 49” | 46.5” | -2.78 trending_flat | Taurus | map my_location |
| radio_button_checked Saturn | 22h 59m 25s | -08° 43’ 39” | 17.2” | 0.89 trending_flat | Aquarius | map my_location |
| radio_button_checked Uranus | 03h 31m 39s | +18° 48’ 17” | 3.8” | 5.64 trending_flat | Taurus | map my_location |
| radio_button_checked Neptune | 23h 51m 57s | -02° 18’ 03” | 2.3” | 7.72 trending_flat | Pisces | map my_location |
Legend of symbols: ⓘ
Jupiter Moons
Position of the Galilean satellites of Jupiter. A dedicated tool is available, with more advanced features.
Saturn Moons & Rings
Inclination of the rings of Saturn and positions of major satellites. A dedicated tool is available, with more advanced features.
Apparent Planet Sizes
Comparison between the apparent size of the planets, measured in seconds of a degree, as they appear today.
Mercury
6.9”
Venus
15.7”
Mars
10.4”
Jupiter
46.5”
Saturn
17.2”
Uranus
3.8”
Neptune
2.3”
Credits for the planet images: NASA-APL - NASA.
Brightest Comets
List of the 10 brightest comets (open the full list of 229 comets).
| Comet | R.A. | Decl. | Magnitude (COBS)Mag Obs | Magnitude (JPL)Mag Pred | ConstellationConst | Charts | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| radio_button_checked | C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) | 18h 48m 43s | +04° 08’ 16” | 8.8 | 10.24 | trending_down | Serpens Ser | map my_location |
| radio_button_checked | 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann | 10h 10m 56s | +09° 34’ 52” | 12.8 | 17.66 | trending_flat | Leo Leo | map my_location |
| radio_button_checked | 333P/LINEAR | 11h 23m 34s | +17° 24’ 16” | 12.8 | 15.20 | trending_up | Leo Leo | map my_location |
| radio_button_checked | C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) | 15h 26m 44s | -42° 33’ 43” | - | 12.80 | trending_up | Lupus Lup | map my_location |
| radio_button_checked | 13P/Olbers | 16h 18m 15s | -09° 05’ 11” | - | 12.96 | trending_down | Scorpius Sco | map my_location |
| radio_button_checked | C/2022 E2 (ATLAS) | 06h 01m 39s | +66° 14’ 02” | 13.6 | 13.11 | trending_up | Camelopardalis Cam | map my_location |
| radio_button_checked | C/2024 S1 (disintegrated) | 12h 02m 26s | -28° 21’ 40” | - | 14.20 | trending_down | Hydra Hya | map my_location |
| radio_button_checked | P/2010 H2 (Vales) | 12h 39m 02s | +08° 34’ 49” | - | 14.73 | trending_flat | Virgo Vir | map my_location |
| radio_button_checked | C/2023 C2 (ATLAS) | 18h 54m 34s | -24° 05’ 19” | - | 15.00 | trending_flat | Sagittarius Sgr | map my_location |
| radio_button_checked | C/2022 L2 (ATLAS) | 09h 34m 06s | -38° 16’ 21” | - | 15.12 | trending_flat | Antlia Ant | map my_location |
Legend of symbols: ⓘ
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
List of the 10 brightest asteroids (open the full list of 78 asteroids and dwarf planets.)
| Asteroid | R.A. | Decl. | MagnitudeMag | ConstellationConst | Charts | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| radio_button_checked | 4 Vesta | 12h 45m 42s | +00° 52’ 03” | 8.10 | trending_up | Virgo | map my_location |
| radio_button_checked | 15 Eunomia | 05h 52m 21s | +35° 43’ 38” | 8.52 | trending_up | Auriga | map my_location |
| radio_button_checked | 1 Ceres | 19h 46m 49s | -28° 22’ 10” | 9.25 | trending_flat | Sagittarius | map my_location |
| radio_button_checked | 7 Iris | 21h 19m 27s | -09° 23’ 17” | 9.78 | trending_down | Aquarius | map my_location |
| radio_button_checked | 11 Parthenope | 03h 21m 59s | +10° 49’ 21” | 9.82 | trending_down | Aries | map my_location |
| radio_button_checked | 1036 Ganymed | 00h 28m 15s | -00° 25’ 44” | 9.89 | trending_down | Cetus | map my_location |
| radio_button_checked | 19 Fortuna | 01h 10m 47s | +07° 16’ 30” | 10.30 | trending_down | Pisces | map my_location |
| radio_button_checked | 13 Egeria | 04h 48m 23s | +33° 43’ 36” | 10.35 | trending_up | Auriga | map my_location |
| radio_button_checked | 20 Massalia | 23h 58m 22s | -00° 03’ 35” | 10.39 | trending_down | Pisces | map my_location |
| radio_button_checked | 2 Pallas | 17h 42m 05s | +04° 15’ 49” | 10.41 | trending_flat | Ophiuchus | map my_location |
Legend of symbols: ⓘ
Active Meteor Showers
List of the currently active meteor showers.
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 number an observer could see in real conditions depends on the actual intensity of the shower (which can be highly variable) and on the sky conditions.
| Name | Peak | Radiant R.A. | Radiant Decl. | ZHR ⓘ | Rating | Parent Object | Charts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| radio_button_checked | Leonids | 17 Nov | 10h 05m | +22° | 15 | bright | 55P/Tempel–Tuttle | [ map ](/planetarium#ra|10.1 |
| radio_button_checked | Northern Taurids | 12 Nov | 03h 53m | +22° | 5 | bright | Comet Encke | [ map ](/planetarium#ra|3.9 |
| radio_button_checked | Southern Taurids | 10 Oct | 02h 06m | +09° | 5 | bright | Comet Encke | [ map ](/planetarium#ra|2.1 |
| radio_button_checked | November Orionids | 28 Nov | 06h 05m | +16° | 3 | medium | [ map ](/planetarium#ra|6.1 | |
| radio_button_checked | Alpha Monocerotids | 21 Nov | 07h 47m | +01° | variable | bright | [ map ](/planetarium#ra|7.8 |
Legend of symbols: ⓘ